


The King of Shadows

by Eternal_writes



Category: D.Gray-man
Genre: Allen loooooves him, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Awesome plot, Castles, Fighting, Kanda is hot, Kanda is super gay, Kingdoms, Lesser Lords, Lords, M/M, Magic, Magic-Users, Princes, Torture, Violence, War, kings - Freeform, read this, war and destruction people
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-13
Updated: 2018-02-19
Packaged: 2019-03-04 02:23:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 34,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13354494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eternal_writes/pseuds/Eternal_writes
Summary: Suddenly drafted into the army against his will, Allen unintentionally falls for the commander, General Kanda Yuu. Together they must end The War between the Kingdom and The Noah. But neither side could predict what happens next. "Didn't I tell you there's more than just two sides to this war, Earl?" the figure smiled evilly. Yullen! Magic!





	1. Drafting Day

**Author's Note:**

> I have written 15 chapters of this so far!! :D

My village was a cold place to be if you were different. It was hell on earth for me, but it was better than war, anything was better than The War. I sat up into a sitting position, dusting off my brown pants and white tunic. It didn’t do me any good, the dirt still stuck to my clothes. We were fighting a losing battle. The War was against our long time enemy the Ottoman Empire, honestly I knew we didn’t stand a chance, not with The Earl leading his army into battle. The War has been going on for years, so long that we have days like today, called the Drafting Day, where everyone who didn’t have a job was forced into the army. Unfortunately, that meant me. The villagers never offered me a job, I was different, and they shunned me. The Church was the main cause of it, they took one look at me and deemed me an outcast for the rest of my life.

I got to my feet, and licked my cracked lips, The Drafting would begin soon, and the rest of the village was already lining up, walking over to the stage in the center of town. I’d been on that stage many times in my life, I was their main source of entertainment, ranging from beatings to burning me. I hated them all for it, no one had even thought of helping me. They found pleasure in my suffering. I found a seat quickly, preferably away from the crowd, but there were so many people that I was soon squished next to two unfortunate men. I gave them cold glares and watched the stage in front of me. I didn’t want to go to war, even though that meant three meals a day and a place to sleep. I would rather die on the streets, than risk the chance of being caught by the enemy and tortured. The heat bared down on us relentlessly, but I didn’t even break a sweat, I was used to the heat. I waited for the ceremony to begin, ten minutes passed, then twenty before the Soldiers finally blocked off any exits and Kanda Yuu, the most powerful of three Generals walked onto the stage. 

His raven hair swayed as he turned to the crowd in front of him. His cobalt eyes were almost colder than mine. “Ladies and gentlemen.” he said, his voice deep, reverberating in my chest, “You’ve gathered here today to witness Drafting Day,” He was going to say my name, I was going to die. I stiffened as he clasped his hands behind his back and cleared his throat. A Soldier walked over to center stage, where Kanda stood and handed him a slip of paper. “Johnson Smith, Viper Bose, Bradley Ludwig…” It was difficult to keep my face neutral as he neared the end of his list, I was definitely going to get called. After minutes and minutes of waiting, I thought maybe I’d be spared- “Allen Walker,” 

My heart dropped like a dead weight in my chest. Oh, dear gods, if any of them were listening, please,  _ please  _ let this be a dream. I prayed to Rhys, the god of Warfare, Arcane, and Chaos, but the crowd cheered loudly, applauding, not out of respect. Out of hatred and gratitude that I was no longer their problem. I rose from my seat and placed a mask over my emotions and facial expression. Angry and cold. I walked up to the stage while the people yelled curses and gave me vulgar gestures. They even threw food at me, and it took all my self-control to not eat anything that fell at my feet. Instead, I kicked a tomato that landed in front of me and it sailed through the crowd, hitting someone in the face. They screeched and I tried not to crack a smirk. “Thank you for your patience and  _ respect.  _ Drafting Day is concluded.” Kanda said, before turning on his heel and we all followed. 

He leads us behind the stage to where at least a dozen horses waited. He ordered us to mount one, and I gave the black stallion an apprehensive stare, I’ve never ridden a horse before, but I climbed on anyway. I bit my lower lip, as my horse began moving at a slow trot along with the other horses. I watched the others handling their horses, we came to a turn and they turned their reins in the direction they wanted to go and the horses went in that direction, I followed suit and my horse did the same. We followed the dirt roads through the village until we left. The dry, cracked earth changed as we continued on. It changed into beautiful green pastures, and the temperature dropped, so now it was comfortably cool. “I didn’t know you could ride, homeless boy,” Viper said, with an evil smirk. I ignored him. His bronze hair fell right above his eyes wildly, he looked like  _ he  _ was the homeless one. 

His hazel eyes never left me as he said. “Who taught you to ride? Your dad?  _ Oh _ wait, that’s right you don’t have one.” I stared straight ahead. I tightened my grip on the leather straps I was holding, but otherwise, I kept myself in check. “Shut up,” I snapped. His name was Viper for a reason. No one commented on his insult, like usual. The War wouldn’t change a thing. Getting Drafted wouldn’t fix the injustice in my life. I watched the cows graze lazily around us as our horses trotted on. I would’ve smiled at the sheer beauty of the land around me, but anything could be used against me. So I choose to look bored, bored of the bright green grass, and moss growing against the dark brown bark of a tree. Bored of the colorful blue sky, that was slowly changing colors. No one paid their surroundings any attention, except for the soldiers that surrounded us in a circle, they were on high alert. Kanda was riding in front of me, he gave Viper a curious glance. Kanda didn’t even bother with me, and I didn’t particularly care, I was better off if he didn’t notice me at all. “You monster,” Viper snapped, once he realized I wasn’t going to react. “With that arm and scar of yours, it’s no wonder The Church labeled you demonic,” 

I suppressed the urge to kill him, it was an effort. My hands shook with rage, and I gritted my teeth so hard that my jaw ached “Is that all you can come up with?” I asked, “You’re not very creative.” We passed a cottage full of laughing people, and I could smell the food they were cooking for supper. Viper opened his mouth to say something, but ultimately thought better of it and closed it after a Soldier glared at him. The rest of the group picked up the pace, and soon their horses were galloping, I urged my horse to do the same. An hour or two passed before we finally reached camp, and I finally got off my horse. The camp was pretty big, with tons of tents set up, and horses saddled up. There were many soldiers loitering around, sharpening their weapons and cracking jokes like old friends, rather than killing machines. Kanda adjusted his shirt before he turned to us. The katana strapped to his hip flashed menacingly. A man beside him handed each of us a new pair of clothes. Everything was spectacularly black leather. Black and white were the colors of our flag. I changed out of my brown pants into the black leather pants and tentatively took off my tunic and gloves. All chatter stopped, and I willed my body to have no visible reaction. I kept my head up, and my shoulders back as the others stared. They all had a look of shock on their faces. I was covered in brutal bruises, burn marks, my hair was whiter than the snow in December, my eyes were unnervingly silver, an ugly scar marred half of my face. My arm was red and deformed, how could they  _ not  _ stare? I didn’t blame them at all. Viper was laughing hysterically, I put the black vest on and gave him the finger. The vest covered the entirety of my upper half of my body, it stopped above my collarbone, covering my entire chest and abdomen. I laced up my boots.

Viper growled at me, and I bared my teeth at him. Kanda took a step toward me his warm fingers barely grazed the skin on my bruised throat.I swallowed and swatted his hand away. “Don’t touch me,” 

“He’d let you touch him if you paid,” Viper said, “Not that  _ anyone  _ would pay for  _ that. _ ” I lunged, but not before I grabbed the dagger in my boot. I tackled Viper to the ground and he screeched. I grabbed a fistful of his bronze hair and slammed it on the earth, holding my dagger to his throat. 

“It would be wise to keep your mouth shut before _ I  _ shut it for you,” I

snapped, leaning close to his face, “It’d be sad if you died before you even reached the battlefield.” I got off of him, and kicked him in the ribs. Kanda didn’t even blink. 

“Give me that,” he ordered, holding out a hand. I clicked my tongue, but placed it in his hand, giving him a cold stare. “As I was going to say, before you  _ idiots _ interrupted me, everyone will wear the uniform everyday, and will not possess any weapons until I say so.” He gave me a pointed look. “You will meet me in the Clearing over there-” he pointed to the left, where there were no tents, “-and train, we’ll start with hand-to-hand combat first and work our way up. Please hand me any weapons you have.” 

He grabbed everyone’s weapons and when he got to me I smirked. I pulled out two other daggers from my other boot and crossed my arms. “That’s everything?” he asked me. I nodded. If I hadn’t changed clothes I would’ve had to pull out twelve. He looked me right in the eyes, searching for any signs of a lie before sighing and continuing on. He pointed at me, Viper, and two other men I didn’t recognize, “You four will be in a tent together,” he pointed at two others, “and you four are together, and you four...” I glared at Viper, and he glare back. Our two other tent-mates didn’t seem to notice as they introduced themselves. “I’m Apollo, and this is Leo,” said a blonde teenager, probably two years older than me. He smiled holding out his hand to me. I didn’t recognize him, or his friend Leo from our village. I shook his hand with my good hand and he smiled broadly. 

“What’s your name?” he asked. 

“Allen Walker,” I muttered, never taking my eyes off of Viper as I spoke. Leo smiled at me gently. 

“He seems, charismatic…” Leo said uncertainly raising an eyebrow at Viper. 

“The name’s  _ Viper _ ,” he hissed. He truly was a snake. His dark hair was still wild, he ran a hand through it. The uniform made him look more menacing than I thought possible. It was tight across his broad chest, showing off his muscles. Viper was much stronger than me, I realized. He had let me tackle him, but I had no idea why he’d let himself be humiliated like that. If he was trying to provoke me, it was working pretty freaking well. The four of us were ushered to a random tent by an officer, “Hurry up you four, you’ll need your rest for The Testing tomorrow,” I had no idea what “The Testing” was but from the grim look on the officer's face, it was something to be concerned about. 

“What’s, The Testing?” Apollo asked, trailing after the officer. 

“It’s a test, obviously,” Leo told him. 

“Well duh, but what kind of test?” 

“Kanda will push you to your limits, and test how far you can go before he breaks you,” The higher up snapped, “It’s a brutal test of your physical and mental health...no one has lasted a hour through his tests, he never  _ really _ gets a chance to even test their mental strength.”

“Is it painful?” Apollo asked apprehensively, the color drained from his tan face. I tried to look bored, but internally I wasn’t fairing too well either. I had amazing physical endurance and I never tired, but mental would be the challenge. The offer shook his head and the four of us walked into our tent, and I was surprised. It was much bigger than it looked, and it wasn’t too hot or too cold. The moment I crashed on my cot I was blissfully asleep. 


	2. The Beast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allen begins his challenge, but an unexpected visitor screws everything up!

I woke up the sound of birds. For the first time in my life, I wasn’t sweating, I wasn’t freezing and I wasn’t being attacked. Apollo was snoring pretty loudly, and Leo was sprawled on top of him. Viper was already gone, so I got out of my tent to find him. I told myself that I wasn’t going to find him to pick a fight, but I knew that he’d probably rile me up somehow and punches would get thrown. It was cool outside, and only a few people were roaming around, most of them headed for the kitchen where breakfast was being prepared. 

I passed the kitchen, which was really just a tent where all the food was stored. Viper didn’t sit at any of the tables with the other recruits, he was nowhere to be seen. I took one look at the food and called off my little search. I grabbed a plate full of food and sat, I tried to be civil, eating at a slow pace. It was truly an effort to keep from shoveling my entire plate into my mouth in a matter of seconds. I would’ve surely thrown it up anyway, I wasn’t used to eating this much food, and halfway through, I had to stop before my stomach exploded. I was pushing the remnants of my food around my plate as Kanda Yuu sat down next to me. I gave him a curious glance, positioning myself away from him. His hard eyes were softer than yesterday, but I stayed weary, remembering that today was The Testing. I went back to my plate, and he finally spoke. 

“You should eat as much as you can, you’ll need it. Trust me,” he advised. I suppressed an emotionless chuckle, I never got more than necessary. I never had the luxury of “too much food,” it was only too little. When I didn’t respond, Kanda raised an eyebrow “You know it won’t  _ kill _ you to talk.” he muttered. 

“You’d be surprised,” I told him. 

“Where are you from?” he asked, more focused on me than his food. 

“I’m not telling you anything,” I said, finally pushing my plate away from me, half-eaten. 

“Why is that?” Kanda prompted. 

“You’ll use anything you can against me during The Testing, and I’m not stupid enough to think you actually care,” I insisted, I put my plate up, and Kanda followed me. I turned around and nearly slammed into Viper, but I was fast enough to sidestep him, right before he tried to plow into me. I clenched my hands into fists as he snapped at me,  _ “Watch it,”  _  He was obviously the one who wasn’t watching where he was going. His face twisted into a disgusting expression of pure hate, but Kanda pushed his way between us. 

“Save it for The Testing you two, it starts now.” He ordered, “Go to the Clearing, and don’t fight, yet.” 

I glared at Viper as the two of us walked over to where the others were waiting. We stood there for a few minutes before Kanda finally showed up. His eyes weren’t so soft anymore, and I felt relieved that I didn’t divulge any information about myself. “I’ll start with combat, Apollo and Leo, please step forward.” The pair went up to him, they both seemed nervous. Apollo was given a dagger, and Leo was given a sword. I clenched my fists, this wasn’t going to be a fair fight. Apollo seemed to realize it pretty quickly, but there was nothing he could do but dodge every swing of Leo’s sword. I watched carefully as the two circled each other, Apollo tried to lunge and catch Leo off guard so he could strike. Leo parried his attack with ease and kicked his friend’s feet out from under him. Leo was the winner, so he stayed, and Apollo left. Leo switched his sword for a dagger, and we went through everyone. When it was my turn, I was handed a sword, and I slammed my opponent to the ground. The last person left was Viper, and I got the dagger this time. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes, Kanda had set it up like this on purpose. Viper and I circled each other, and I knew exactly how I was going to defeat him. 

He swung his sword at me, I jumped back. “Is that all you’ve got?” he mocked. He swung again, and I dodged, it turned into a dance, and he had no idea what I was actually doing. I was trying to find a pattern within every movement he made. He swung right, I went left, in an attempt to get him in a headlock, but he switched directions. I ducked, and the blade grazed my cheekbone. I didn’t waste time wiping away the blood that trickled down my face. “How’d you get that scar, again?” Viper asked, smirking. He knew exactly how I got it. 

“Oh, that’s right, that was my _ father-”  _  He stopped mid-sentence as he blocked my jab. I pretended I didn’t hear anything he said.

Viper lunged at me and swung again, but I was much faster, I jumped out of the way, and pressed my dagger against his throat once I got behind him. He dropped his sword, and Kanda nodded approvingly. I kicked my opponent in the back of the knee and he buckled.

I bit my lip as Kanda issued another task. “Run around the tents until I tell you to stop. Anyone who does without my signal will be sent home, and branded Untouchable.” Being an Untouchable meant you were shunned and could be killed by anyone who deemed it fit. You were a human grease stain that anyone was allowed to get rid of. You couldn’t return to your village, and you couldn’t move to a new one. I smiled. I was one-step away from being an Untouchable, so the threat landed on deaf ears. I ran anyway. I was drenched in sweat by the time he finally ordered everyone to stop. We moved on to the next task. 

My body ached, and almost everyone else seemed to be on the verge of giving in. He led us to an obstacle course, which looked like a torture device. I was fine for the most part, I balanced on the wooden beams. Then I came up to the ropes, they swung lazily through the air, there was a huge knot at the end of the three ropes, probably barely big enough to place my feet on. Thunder rumbled in the distance and I knew I’d have to finish this up quick. I grabbed the first rope and swung gently forward before grabbing onto the next, struggling to keep myself upright. I swung to the next one, my arms shook with the effort of holding my body weight as I dropped onto the platform leading to the next obstacle. 

After the ropes, I did pretty well until I got to the C curved wall. This is where  _ everyone  _ failed. Right before the finish line. Lightning struck somewhere, lighting up the sky, before the rain came pouring down, soaking me in a matter of seconds. I stared at the menacing wall, maybe I would fail too. I backed up to the edge of the platform I was standing on and charged up the wall,  grabbing onto the ledge just as I reached the top. I hauled myself up, nearly slipping on the rainwater. I got up and crossed the finish line, wheezing. “You...asshole,” I breathed. 

“Well done, you're the only two that made it to Phase Two,” Kanda told me. I hadn’t proven myself just yet. My body ached with every movement I made, my throat was raw from exerting myself too much. Every breath was an effort. Viper stood behind me, apparently, he’d made it too.

“What now?” I asked. Viper had his arms crossed, and he looked very proud of himself. I glared at him, and he glared back. 

“We continue,” Kanda said. He led both of us away from the group to a small tent away from camp. He ushered us inside, in the middle of the tent were two wooden chairs. “Sit,” I kicked Viper on the way to my chair. He hissed at me, and I smiled. 

“The first phase was to weed out the weak. The second phase is the  _ real  _ test.” Kanda said, standing in front of both of us with his hands clasped behind his back. “It lasts three days, with three Trails. You two will work as a team.” 

“A team?!” Viper shouted, “I’m not working with him!” I couldn’t agree more. 

“You’ll work as a team or you’ll be executed.” Kanda snapped. “There’s no way out of these Trails, and you most certainly die if you don’t work together!” Viper opened his mouth and closed it. All the color drained from his face. As much as I hated this life, I wasn’t prepared to die. 

“There are bags full of everything you’ll need in your tent, go get them.” He gave us a curt nod and left. I glanced at Viper and he looked as confused as I felt. We both got up from our chairs and went to our tents. I grabbed my bag, which was sitting on my cot, Apollo and Leo were nowhere to be found, it was eerily silent. 

“Why is it so quiet?” Viper wondered aloud. I paid no attention to him as I went through the contents of my bag. No water, no food. There was a dagger, which wouldn’t do much of anything, and first aid supplies. I frowned, this was virtually nothing. I was about to ask Viper what was in his bag, but everything went black.  _ “...Welcome to Phase Two….”  _

A very loud, bone-chilling roar woke me up from my sleep. I was on my feet before my eyes were open, and what I saw was more terrifying  than that roar. It was black, and it’s red eyes gleamed. It was taller than any human should be, and its teeth were jagged and sharp they were longer than my arm. Its arms were thin, it had claws for fingers most likely for ripping its prey to shreds. It clutched it’s head and roared again. “SCREEEEEE!” It ran towards me, but I couldn’t move. I was too terrified to do anything. Blood dripped off its claws and teeth. It swung at me and my body sprung into action. I ran and hid behind a tree, fumbling with my bag to get my dagger. I could hear it crashing through the trees behind me. I couldn’t outrun it. Finally, I found it, just as the thing found me. My whole body shook with terror. I was sweating profusely, I scrambled away, the dagger in my hand was useless. _ Shit. _

It swiped at me, and I was barely able to block it. I turned and ran, it sprinted after me. I couldn’t even think straight, but I kept going. It screamed at me, and I sobbed. My legs burned and I tripped over a thick tree root. I cried out, this was not the time to be falling over while a flesh-eating monster was chasing you. It landed on top of me, and its long claws ripped through my shoulder like it was nothing but air. I dug my fingers into the damp earth beneath me,  my back arched involuntarily, it was like nothing I’d ever felt before. Pain ripped through me like a living thing. It burned. I screamed until my throat was raw. White spots formed in my vision, its claws retracted, and I didn't wait for a second strike. I rolled away, slamming my shoulder into a tree. 

I used it to haul myself up. As soon as I was on my feet I was running. I burst through the trees and into a clearing. A few feet away, Viper was standing, going through his bag. He saw me and blinked. A roar shook the ground. “What was that?!” Viper asked. I didn't stop running, I just screamed.  _ “RUN! YOU IDIOT! RUN AWAY!” _ I kept going, using my hand to put pressure on my wound, everything below my shoulder was numb. I couldn't feel anything. Viper followed me.

“RAAAAAAH!!!” Viper’s eyes widened. The monster ran after us, and we kept running. Up ahead there was a tower, I ran faster. I shoved him inside and shut the door behind me and the whole room was engulfed in darkness, and the door disappeared.

“What was that  _ thing?!”  _ Viper shouted, eyeing the door. 

“I don't know,” I snapped back. 

“Was it our first task?” he asked. 

“I don’t know!” I shouted, removing my hand from my shoulder. It was covered in blood. A chill ran up my spine. “Shit...shit...shit,” I ground my teeth together. 

“Viper.” 

“What?” he looked at me and swore when he saw the blood on my hand. 

“Get the first aid kit out of my bag,” I told him, “Please,” He shuffled over, and pried the bag off of my back. He got the kit out of my bag and ripped my shirt off, peeling the fabric off my blood slicked back. I sucked in a painful breath. 

“Even though I'm helping you, I still hate you.” Viper said as he pressed some gauze on my back. “I have to stop the bleeding first,” I groaned, my eyes felt heavy, I couldn't stay awake any longer. 


	3. The Trials

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The tests truly begin!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All the chapters have been written, and I'm going to publish all of them today! :D

I hope you enjoy, this story is going to get deeper and deeper. :)

I stood in a clearing, the monster that attacked me was standing there, but it didn't attack me. It walked over to me casually and wrapped its claws around my head. Pain exploded everywhere it touched me. I screamed and gripped my head, "The Earl is coming for you,"its breath smelled like rotting flesh. I gagged. The monster took a step back before lunging forward, stabbing me in the heart. Blood poured out of my mouth.

"Hey! Wake up!" Viper shouted in the distance. My eyes snapped open and he was above me, shaking me. I shoved him away, ignoring the sharp pain that shot through my entire arm.

"I figured out the first task," Viper said, glaring at me, "I thought you'd want to know."

"What is it?" I asked. I sat up, wincing at the pain.

"You know how the door disappeared after you shut it?" he said, "We have to figure out a way to escape the tower."

"How do you know it's our first task?" I asked, poking at my bandages.

"There was a note on the wall," he answered, like it should be obvious, "'Your first task is to escape,'" I looked at the wall, and there was indeed a note on the wall saying just that. I looked around the room, there was nothing, but a breeze was coming from somewhere. I stood and began pushing on the bricks on the walls.

"What the fuck are you doing?" Viper asked.

"It trying to find a secret door, idiot," I told him. I tapped nearly every brick in the room with no such luck. I frowned, and felt around the floor. Maybe there was a tunnel under the tower. I ran my fingers across the floor until I found it. It was a line cut in the cement, I traced it with my fingers, it must be the door. I started prying it open, "Hey, you know what would be great? If you helped me." I snapped.

Viper groaned and heaved it open. I moved the block of cement away to reveal a dark tunnel. I didn't even spare Viper a glance as I jumped down. It was dark and cold, but I didn't mind. "Come on," I called, walking ahead. I heard Viper jump down next to me. We walked through the tunnel for what felt like hours. Finally, we came to another room. I sighed with relief until I saw all the different tiles. Every one of them had something different on them, I stopped walking. Viper didn't seem to notice or care about the tiles and kept going. He stepped on one, and it sunk into the ground.

There was a loud groan, and suddenly the tiles started disappearing. The ground beneath his feet disappeared, I lunged and grabbed his hand. Pain flared in my shoulder, I gasped in pain. My arm shook and Viper's eyes widened. "Don't let go!" I licked my lips, and squeezed my eyes shut. He was so heavy, and I couldn't hold on much longer. I couldn't just drop him, below him was a bed of spikes, he'd die. I took a big breath before I hauled him back up. Tears formed in my eyes, but I didn't stop until he hauled himself all the way.

"You fucking idiot!" I yelled, cradling my arm, I was one hundred percent sure that the wound opened again. Only a few tiles were left. We could still cross to the exit. I got up and headed for the door. I pushed the oak door open, and light flooded in, we were in the woods again.

It was now that I started wondering how long I'd been passed out. Had it been an hour? A day? I left the darkroom behind and surveyed my surroundings. The two of us were in a clearing surrounded by trees - trees that were moving. They creaked as the weaved together slowly, forming a wall. Grey fog seeped out of their bark. In a matter of seconds, I couldn't see anything except the grey fog in front of me. "It's been so long," garbled a familiar voice. "I was beginning to think you forgot who gave you that scar, boy." I could never forget that voice, or the man behind it. Where was he? My entire body tensed and I looked around wildly. His form appeared in front of me, Viper's father. The scar on my forehead, red and ugly, was from him.

The dagger he used was in his hand, my blood dripped off, slow and hypnotic. "No, no. I-it's not possible. Drafting Day was days ago, you're fake, you're not real." I said shakily, I took a step forward, this was the second task, I had to complete it. "Not real, not real, not real." He changed his appearance, now he was Viper, I'd seen him seconds ago, but hadn't head him since the trial began.

"You know, everyone hates you, you should leave. In the end you're a burden and you'll end up dying in the end." He held out the dagger to me, "You could escape everything, every beating, and curse thrown at you. You could end it all." I blinked slowly, that sounded pretty good. Everything would so much easier if I just died. I wouldn't have to be in a war I didn't care about, and I would never have to see that village again. I could finally be free of everything. Every burden.

"M-maybe. It's sounds like a good plan," I muttered, Viper nodded eagerly, giving me a smile. I didn't know he could smile. I grabbed the dagger and pressed it against my throat. "That's it, only a little more," Viper looked so kind and gentle. He nodded encouragingly, and smiled again, this time his eyes flashed, Viper never ever smiled at me. This had to be fake. I dropped the dagger as the spell broke.

Before me stood a fragile old lady, but she screeched and ran away. "C-c-congratsss! You made it to the final Trail!" she hissed, as she disappeared through the trees. The fog retreated, and Viper stood a few feet away, looking in the direction the old lady had gone.

"What the hell was that?" Viper asked, he was paler than usual.

"I think the lady was showing us our worst fears, or something," I told him.

"Yeah, t-that makes sense,"

"What'd you see?" I asked,

"I-i'd rather not talk about it," He muttered softly, rubbing his arms. "What about you?"

"No thanks, I'd like to keep that to myself." I responded. The trees bended to provide us a path to our third trial. A small path went on forever and I swear I could hear monsters growling just beyond the walls of the trees. They scratched at the walls, drooling hungrily. We kept going, and we eventually came to a tree, our path curved around it, but engraved on it was a message: Kill the one that roars fire.

We had to kill a beast for our third trial, then. I looked at Viper. "Do you have any good weapons?" He took off his backpack and rummaged through it, holding a bow and a handful of arrows.

"What about you?" He asked, I shrugged.

"Only a dagger, that won't do anything against a fire breathing monster." I told him. He kept the bow and arrows out and we continued on until we came to a clearing. The trees were woven together and formed a circular wall around the area, but to the left, the wall had been demolished. The monstrous creature I saw when I first woke up was hunched over another monster - a dragon - and eating it. It's long black claws sawed through flesh and bone, tearing it's dead prey to pieces as the thing lifted the flesh to it's jagged sharp teeth that were way too long. My breath hitched. The monster ate it's catch, eating all of the bones, crunch….crunch...crunch. Bits of flesh hung on it's blood stained teeth. The acrid smell of blood filled my nose. It turned and it's red beady eyes focused in on me, sniffing. I remembered that I opened my wound earlier. It could smell my blood.

I didn't hesitate this time, "Run!" I screamed, gripping Viper's wrist and running toward the hole in the wall that the monster had created. We ran through the woods, not even daring to stop when we heard it roar. "Viper, give the bow and arrows, and go to camp- it's nearby, it has to be, and send some god damned help, would you?" I snapped. I wasn't sure if anyone could help me. Viper handed me the arrows and the bow and ran off, the creature followed me. This wasn't the best plan, but it was all I could come up with on such short notice.

I strapped the bow on my back and sprinted as fast as I could. I jumped over tree roots and wove around the trees, fighting was last resort. I winced as my shoulder slammed into a tree, but I forced myself to run faster. "RRRROAAAAAAR!" I didn't dare turn around. My heart pounded in my chest so intensely that I thought it would explode. A tree exploded behind me, and I screamed. The pieces on bark cut my skin, and I could feel it's rotting breath on my back. I grabbed my bow and notched an arrow, I only had six. It was about to be five. I drew the string back and turned. I released and it soared through the air for a millisecond before it struck him in the head. It staggered for a second, and I shot a second one in it's chest. It got back on it's feet and black waves rolled off him, my wounded left shoulder erupted with pain.

I shakily drew another arrow, and I got him in the eye, another in the shoulder, and one in the knee. My aim was worsening by the second, and I only had one left. I hoped this time I'd get him in the heart, but he lunged and his claws scraped across my left arm. Searing hot pain. They dug into my flesh swift and deadly, forming red lines of intricately woven designs that poured out blood seconds later. I screamed louder than I had ever screamed before and fell. My other arm changed from red to black. It roared at me, and the ground beneath me rumbled. "ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRROOOOOR!" People in camp probably could hear that. It's neck was right above me, exposed. If I could just slice it open, maybe it would die. With my good arm I grabbed it out of my seath and sliced and slashed. Black blood seeped out, coating my shirt and my clothes. It splattered on my face, and the thing slumped forward and landed next to me, dead. I couldn't get up, everything hurt and I could barely speak.

"Allen," someone said sternly after a few minutes. "Allen, can you hear me?" It was Kanda, I finally realized. I coughed.

"Yeah," I croaked out.

"We'll get you patched up, don't worry," Kanda reassured me. "Those Shadows weren't supposed to be here, i'm so sorry," My eyes were heavy, and my body was on fire. I felt my body get lifted up into the air and screamed as my arm brushed gently against something.

The first thing I noticed when I woke up was Kanda, sitting in the chair beside my bed. He was asleep. I looked at my arm, it was bandaged neatly, and I was clean. I flexed my fingers tentatively and sucked in a painful breath. "Ow,"

"Don't move, idiot, you'll open up the stitching." Kanda snapped, suddenly awake and alert.

"What happened?" I asked, I must've passed out after they found me next to that demon.

"You fought a very high-level Shadow Creature, something most soldiers can't do, very impressive. You passed The Trials, congratulations." I relaxed a little.

"Great,"

Kanda wasn't finished though, "Before you undoubtedly pass out again, what did you see in the fog? I asked Viper too, it's mandatory that you answer, no one else will know." I stared at him for longer than necessary. He raised an eyebrow.

"I saw Viper's dad. He gave me this scar, and I saw his son. Viper almost convinced me to slit my own throat, but the spell broke before I could." I told him, not looking him in the eyes. My eyes drifted to my other arm that wasn't bandaged, it had changed when the beast clawed me. Originally it was red, deformed, rough and ugly. Now it was smooth, black and almost beautiful, almost. Engraved in my hand was a cross. I stared at it curiously.

"It changed when the Shadow Creature attacked me," I said, my eyes wide. I looked up and Kanda was gone. Of course.


	4. Welcome to the Order!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to the Black Order Allen!!!!

A few weeks later my wound was healed enough for me to begin my training. I was given a sword, and allowed to keep my dagger I got from the Trials. I stand in the Clearing, just as the other stir. They stumble out of their tents, yawn and blink slowly. My own eyes are heavy with exhaustion, but it's the first day i'm back, so I force myself to stay alert. My arm is sore, but other than that, i'm fully healed. My sword is strapped to my hip in it's sheath, I haven't got a chance to practice with it yet. Viper hasn't spoken to me much since the trial, only to insult me like usual, but his eyes are always straying away to the wood, where we saw the Shadow Creature. At least he wasn't the one that had to kill it.

The General - Kanda Yuu - stood a few feet away, his foot tapping impatiently. Viper somehow ended up next to me. I resisted the urge to scowl at him. And failed. Kanda's eyes cut to me like steel and I stop, covering my face in an unbreakable mask. Impassive. Kanda was colder than ever. The War was fast approaching, I didn't blame him.

His katana hung at his hip and his finger tapped the hilt. "Basic training is the most rigorous." He looked at nobody in particular as he spoke. He was being weird. "You'll be taught hand-to-hand combat, armed combat and valuable skills that could keep you from dying on the battlefield." He had everyone's attention. Soon he herded us in a circle around him.

Two would enter the circle and fight, no weapons, just your own fists. It would most likely be bloody. Viper smiles like the snake he is and looks excited. He didn't look excited when he saw the Shadow Creature.

He was shoved in first with Leo. They circled each other like wild animals. Leo lunged first, and Viper side stepped with ease, delivering a good kick to the ribs as he did so. They went back and forth for several minutes, punching, kicking, and blocking with surprising swiftness. Leo got a good uppercut on Viper, who in turn punched him in the jaw.

The rest of us watched for a few more minutes before another duo entered the circle, then another until it was my turn. Kanda was my opponent. I tried to keep my unease from showing. He stands in the circle, waiting for me. My black vest sticks to my skin as I begin to sweat already. We circle each other, like predators. He was confident, I weary. His body tightens, like a cobra getting ready to strike. He launches himself upon me, his sheer weight nearly crushes me, but I leap out of the way. The circle widens.

He comes at me again, I drop to the ground, swinging my foot in a half circle, knocking his feet from under him. He catches himself swiftly, he throws a punch I block faster than he can throw them, and I throw some of my own. I notice, that my arm is much swifter, faster and easier to control since it changed. I smile.

We keep fighting, block for block, blow for blow. Punch, block, kick, punch. We're dancing, swirling around each other, never ending. My heart pounds in my ears like war drums. I'm wild with the fight. My eyes alight with the eagerness to prove myself. What feels like hours later, the fight ends, with both of us gasping for air. He went easy on me, i'm well aware, but nonetheless, I feel like I accomplished something by the time lunch rolls around. I eat by myself, until Leo and Apollo come and take a seat beside me. "You were amazing out there!" Apollo said cheerfully, "You were so fast! You could beat Kanda in no time if you keep it up!" I smile.

"Well, he went easy on me i'm sure, he's had years of training, I could never beat him.." I say thoughtfully. I couldn't picture it. Me being stronger than him. He would always be stronger, he is a General after all.

"Maybe, but even so, you'll make a great soldier, you might even become General one day!" Apollo continued, he praised me throughout the day, when we went back to training. The days turned into weeks, and into a month until Kanda deemed us fit to start armed combat. I was more muscle toned, and faster than any of my brethren now. I could bring down almost everyone in my group.

Viper and Kanda were the exceptions, Viper too big, Kanda too experienced, and even larger than Viper. Over this month, Kanda had softened, he didn't glare as often. He was currently teaching us how to draw our swords and be precise with every movement. My sword is light in my hands, he goes around correcting everyone, and adjusting them depending on the type of swords they posses. He reaches me. My mouth suddenly goes dry as he comes up behind me and grips the sword in my hand his hand on top of mine, firm but gentle. He lifts it a bit higher, he breathes on the back of my neck. I try not to twitch nervously.

I can feel blood rushing to my face, his body is so close to mine. His lip grazes the skin of my neck, maybe it was intentional, maybe it wasn't but it still sent a thrill through my body. Then, all too quickly, he steps away and goes on to the next, not taking nearly as much time as he did with me. I blink rapidly, my thoughts are scattered thanks to him. All my concentration leaves me, and all I think about is Kanda and his touch. Heat rises to my face again, I bite my lip and force the thoughts to the far corners of my mind. Still, he invades my thoughts as I lose myself in attacking the dummy in front of me.

What was I to him, what did any of this mean? It was a simple touch but I couldn't stop thinking about it. Was there more to him than what meets the eye? I can feel his gaze on my back as I continue this simple task until my arm aches. My sword cuts through the hay after a few more strikes. I urged myself faster, focusing on the way my blade moved through the air like fluid. Faster. Faster. I was determined to be stronger than everyone else, faster, smarter, and powerful. For weeks I worked on my sword skills, and everyday, Kanda Yuu adjusted my stance, the way I held my blade, and taught me how to protect myself.

We would be moving soon. News had arrived a few days ago that the Noah were coming in our direction. My camp was closer to the group according to our spies - the ones that came back anyway - and we were going to meet them in battle. I have never been eager for battle, and I'm still reluctant. I took a seat at one of the tables, and traced the scars on my arm thoughtfully. I've become slightly more toned, and ten times faster than I could thought possible during my training. Leo and Apollo soon accompanied me, I could hear Kanda shouting orders to people not far away. "We need set off before nightfall." He said firmly. Viper sat with two people at another table. They kept stealing glances at me, and looking away. I pretended not to notice.

"Are you scared?" asked Apollo, nudging Leo beside him. I smiled at them. They were friends before they both got drafted, and surprisingly, it stayed that way.

"I'm not scared to kill people, if that's what you mean," Leo responded, finishing his food. Apollo nodded sadly.

"Viper said he was excited, isn't that weird?" Apollo added, looking disgusted. I shrugged.

"He's a nasty human, of course he'd find it exhilarating." I picked up my tray and put it away. "Come one you two, we should pack up and take our tent down so we can get moving." The duo put their trays away and followed me to our tent. The three of us had become friends easily, Apollo was very chatty, but Leo wasn't unless you talked about Apollo. Then he would never stop talking. The two of them were truly adorable. It took us all day to pack our things but we kept our tent up, if we survived we'd come back. I rolled up my belongings and stuffed them in a leather bag strapped on my horse, the same horse I rode into camp with. I put strapped the saddle onto my horse, camp was nearly all packed up. We wouldn't take everything, just necessities. An hour or so later we were on the move.

I mounted my horse and the long journey began. We rode fast and hard, no stopping until dawn. Again and again. One afternoon Kanda rode next to me. "You've improved much since you came to camp." He said.

"Thank you, General," I responded coolly, I gave him a rare smile.

"I want you at my side in battle," Kanda told him, "The enemy is unusual, demons, they call themselves. 'Akuma' They look human, but their faces are stained in black tears, their skin gray. They're fast and deadly, but easily defeated. The Noah is what I'm worried about."

"The Noah?" I asked, giving him a weary glance. I didn't even know what Akuma were until just now.

"God-like humans who claim to be God's apostles. Dark skinned, golden eyes-" He stopped mid-sentence. In the path a few yards away stood one of the Noah. An army behind him.

The next few seconds were a blur, our horses were abandoned, and two armies ran at each other hellbent on blood. Kanda and I fought side by side. A gray skinned akuma with black tears swung at me with his sword. I parried easily, I struck him down easily and he melted. I killed a few more, side-stepped swiftly, striking with grace. I was a lion enjoying the hunt. I slashed, stabbed, ducked and blocked. I stabbed another in the abdomen, retracting my blade and slicing off another akuma's head in one swift movement. Kanda was nearby, looking impressed. The battle was almost over.

My blades danced, killing one after the other, until a dark skinned, golden eyed man approached. It seemed like he stole everything as he came. He stole the air, and my surroundings. I could only see him and his magnificent eyes. His smile was feral. "Hello snow white," he purred. A chill ran down my spine. He lunged at me, a dark purple sword in his hands.

I blocked his strike with my sword. I took a quick glance around, Kanda was facing one too. Kanda ran two fingers down the blade of his Katana, and it glowed a vibrant blue. Another sword appeared in his empty hand, blindingly blue. What was he doing? Magic? My opponent swung at me again. I blocked, but my sword flew out of my hand.

It clanged on the ground nearby somewhere. The Noah wrapped a hand around my throat. "You're not very strong, a pity." His hands tightened, and my breathing stopped completely. I clawed at his hands. I had to live. I had to. I didn't train like crazy to die in my first battle. Live. Live! I kicked wildly, desperation fueling my every move. The edges of my vision darkened. The cross embedded in my hand glowed a fluorescent green. The Noah leaped back, I could breathe again. My hand glowed brighter, blinding me, and the people near me. My arm transformed into a black claw, like the Shadow Creature. Black waves rolled off of me. Foggy black hands appeared in the fog reached for The Noah before evaporating.

The Noah gave me a terrified look, "Y-you have Innocence?"

"Innocence?" I asked, clicking my long nails together. Click click click. The man took a step back. I smiled. This was a gift, I supposed. My blade was forgotten on the ground, I lunged for him, slicing into his skin with my black claws. I was even faster and stronger now that whatever was in my body had activated. The man's face was bloody by the time he retreated with the remaining Akuma.

I looked around for Kanda. We caught each other's eyes. He smiled at me, truly happy that I had survived. "It's called Innocence," Kanda explained, pointing to my claw-like arm.

"Not everyone has it, it's magic. Humans can wield it to fight The Noah, it's the only way you can defeat them. Now you're a part of the secret Organization in the Army. The Black Order."


	5. Adam

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A member of the Order shows himself! Who is he really? Is his name even Adam?

No one else seemed to notice my transformed arm. Only Kanda. I blinked. "I'm a part of what…?" I stared at him, and he gave me a warm smile.

"The Black Order," He explained, "It's not really an organization, but only people with innocence know about it. We call ourselves The Exorcists, we kill akuma - well, everybody does that, but we do it much faster - and we fight The Noah. There are different types of innocence too, Equipment types are like me, they use boots, Katana's, hammers, any kind of object. Parasitic types, like you, use their own bodies, General Suman Dark is a parasitic type too. Those types are more rare."

"So...my arm...can turn into this?" I asked, gesturing to the elongated black claws protruding from my hand. It looked pretty badass to me. Kanda nodded and put away his sword.

"Your innocence can evolve too, just like Akuma can. No one knows how innocence really does this, but it just happens, especially in high-stress situations. Your arm will probably deactivate in a few seconds." I watched my arm closely, and it took a minute or two before my arm turned back to normal. I inspected my arm, furrowing my brow as I ran my fingers down my arm. There was no sign of those claws from a few seconds ago. I grabbed my sword as everyone else began to mount their horses that somehow miraculously survived. The only signs of a battle were the mounds of grey sludge left behind from the dead akuma. No one on our side died. I mounted my horse, and joined everyone else as we started the ride back to camp. Viper antagonized me the entire ride back. "I'm surprised you survived," Viper remarked, "Someone as weak as you should've died in their first battle."

"Me? Weak? Who was the one that got attacked by a Shadow Creature and survived? Who was the one who had to deal with the brutality of your family and the village all those years? It definitely wasn't you," I snapped. My horse puffed out a breathe shaking it's head side to side, seeming as agitated as I was. Viper's nostrils flared. I urged my horse to go faster, and he did the same.

"Well, if you weren't so monstrous, then maybe they wouldn't have been like that." he said with disdain. I growled.

"I don't have control over my appearance, you ass," I muttered. Kanda was in front of us, and I couldn't help but stare. He didn't have a hair out of place even though we just went through battle. Viper clicked his tongue, and continued, but I didn't pay much attention. All I could think about was Kanda, and the way his shoulder muscles moved as he rode. He was god damned beautiful. "-Hey, have you been listening to anything I've been saying?!" Viper shouted, and I blinked out of my daze.

"No, I wasn't. Who'd listen to you if all you did was insult people?" I remarked. Finally, camp was coming into view and I let out a sigh of relief. I could finally escape Viper, but boy was I so wrong. As we entered camp, something was off. Someone unfamiliar was standing at the entrance. His eyes were green, and cold. He wore a red overcoat, he had a whip at his side, it glowed gold. "General Adam," Kanda said, looking surprised, and somewhat terrified. My heart stopped dead in my chest, why was he terrified? Kanda dismounted his horse and greeted the man with a firm handshake.

"Why are you here?" Kanda said apprehensively.

"I wanted to see if your soldiers were good enough," Adam responded.

"They're good soldiers," Kanda began, "They passed my training."

"That may be so, but it's mandatory," Kanda's face paled and Adam smiled cruelly. "Let's get started, shall we?" We all entered camp and we were lead to the Clearing. Kanda stood stiffly and sweat drenched his face."I'll test each of you," Adam told them. "By fighting you, Leo, please step forward, you're first," What did Adam mean when he said "test"? I rested my hand on my sword.

He took a step forward, and the rest of us backed away. Adam drew his weapon, it was shaped like a massive sickle with sharp edges. It was stained with blood. Red blood. Human blood. Adam rushed Leo, and swung his huge sickle. Leo dodged, and Adam rushed again, this time striking his unguarded shoulder. Blood instantly welled up and poured out of the wound. Adam tackled Leo to the ground, and Adam moved on to the next. And the next. Everyone ended up losing pretty quickly except for Viper who held his own pretty well for at least a minute. Now it was my turn. I didn't touch my sword. Yet. He rushed at me, just like he did with everyone else. I dodged, he lunged again, swinging his sickle shaped weapon in an arc. As fast as lightning, I unsheathed the weapon, and blocked the blow with my own sword. Sparks rained down on us, shhhngg! I jumped back, and he circled me, hungry for blood. I swung at him, and he blocked, and shoved me. I managed to keep my balance and stay standing. Evasion was my best strategy.

He swung at me again, and I dodged, coming up behind him, but he turned quicker than I thought possible. His whip was in his other hand, and it glowed a brighter gold. My eyes found Kanda's. "Adam, you're not permitted to use that on soldiers," he snapped. Adam sprinted toward me, and everyone back farther away. I was frozen to this spot. He was faster than before. He swung at me, I blocked, he swung, he swung, he swung. I blocked them all, and everyone was showered in sparks from our swords clashing. I was barely managing to do it, my body was tense with fear, what if I didn't block it in time and he accidentally killed me? My mind went blank when I heard the crack of the whip. It wrapped around my deformed arm. It tightened and burned my flesh, he dragged me off my feet, and I was on my knees at his feet. He snickered. I couldn't form words. "Your soldiers are inadequate, General Kanda," he said. The whip lessened its grip and I locked eyes with Kanda. He was furious. "I'll be taking over their training, lock him up," Adam muttered. Two unfamiliar soldiers grabbed Kanda by the shoulders and put a pair of cuffs on him.

My eyes widened and my mouth dropped open. "You can't do this!" Kanda shouted. Just before he disappeared, he looked at me with saddened eyes, I clenched my jaw, and I gave him a look a fury, I'll get you out. Adam chuckled. "Well, now i'm the one in charge, and I want to make an example out of one of you, whom shall it be? What about...Apollo." Apollo paled at the sound of his name, and two soldiers came carrying a wooden post with chains and shackles. The whip in his hand suddenly had a purpose. My throat went completely dry, The two soldiers grabbed Apollo and chained him to the post. Adam didn't even give anyone time to prepare. He gave him five lashes. I'll kill him, I thought mercilessly. He was whipping my friend in front of everyone. My body shook involuntarily.

"That will be your punishment if you're late to training, ten lashes." Adam explained. "I suggest your all on time." My eyes were wide, I didn't remember how to breathe. I didn't care if General Adam attacked me, I rushed forward and took the keys from one of his soldiers, and unlocked the shackles.

"Hey, I wasn't done speaking!" Adam snapped, spewing spit. I bared my teeth and glared.

"How will you train him, if he's wounded? Let me help him." I snapped back. I was terrified, but my voice was firm and clear. Adam shrugged.

"Bold, what's your name?" Adam asked.

"Allen Walker," I said softer, holding an unconscious Apollo in my arms. Leo pushed his way through the crowd and I handed Apollo over, and stood. I would be bold, but I wasn't going to be stupid, I'd follow his stupid rules until the time was right. I gave him a respectful nod. Adam waved his hand, and dismissed everyone, I hurried to leave, and go to my tent, luckily he didn't call me out. I was furious, I'll kill him.

Everything was different in a matter of days. Adam has us on a strict schedule, we had to be on time for everything lest we get whipped. He was ruthless, but I already knew that. "Alright everyone, i'm glad we're all on time today!" Adam said cheerfully, even though he wielded his whip, which was always a sign of trouble. For the past few weeks, I'd been wondering if Kanda Yuu was okay, I haven't seen him since they dragged him away to one of the few cells in this camp. Adam cleared his throat and everyone snapped to attention. "Your General, Kanda Yuu is facing his rightful judgement." I took a deep breath. I couldn't freak out, yet. Even if Kanda was getting a public whipping - which was the standard punishment for anything - I couldn't just explode. The time still wasn't right.

I just hoped Adam would be swift. "I'm not going to be doing the punishing today." he said, suddenly serious. His cold eyes found mine, and a slow, cruel smile crept across his face. He knew something I didn't. Two guards dragged a half-conscience male over to us, his ebony hair fell past his shoulders, and his cobalt eyes sent a thrill through me. Kanda. "Allen Walker," he muttered, handing me his whip. "You'll be delivering the punishment today," I stopped breathing.

He grabbed my wrist and yanked me forward, placing the whip in my hands. It was cold and heavy, they dragged Kanda over to the whipping post, and shackled him. To see him there, bound and shackled, the man I admired and aspired to impress, about to get whipped by me and it was tearing my heart to shreds. My heart was pounding in my chest, and my chest felt heavy, I ached. I was about to hurt the man I loved, I never wanted to hurt him. But. I couldn't risk the others finding out that I loved him, most of all him, if he figured out I loved him I think I would die. Adam whispered in my ear, "Whip him, or I'll burn you, or maybe I'll carve up your face? I wonder which." I didn't know why he said that, did he know about my village and it's brutality towards me? "Viper is very informative, don't you think?" My face paled, and I whimpered softly.

I stepped forward. I had to be emotionless, Adam was watching me, his cold eyes watching the internal struggle. He backed away until he was out of hearing distance. I leaned down, whispering in Kanda's ear. "Forgive me, Kanda" I stepped back.

"He isn't gonna do it," Viper mocked. Someone inhaled sharply. The crowd was tense. I was tensing up, I relaxed my arm. The whip cracked violently, tearing a perfect laceration on his back. Nine more. I did it again. Eight more. He tensed, and I heard him inhale sharply. I steeled my emotions trying to surface. Fear. Self-loathing. Sadness. Regret. I couldn't do it. My arm had other ideas, one. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. I stopped right before I swung. I let out a strangled whimper. "Do it." Adam snapped.

I swung one last time, Kanda flinched for the tenth time. I dropped the whip, my hands were shaking and my teeth were chattering. I backed away, and then I ran before they released Kanda, I couldn't bare to look at him after what I did. I did that to him, without hesitating. I hid away behind a tent and pulled my knees to my chest. Oh Gods, I can't believe I did that. I covered my face with my hands and sobbed silently. Ariaxio the Goddess of Forgiveness, Love and Prosperity wouldn't even listen to a single prayer of mine, I knew that much. I wasn't meant to prayer, The Church made sure of that. My vision blurred with the tears, but I forced them away. I wiped the tears away, before someone came looking for me.


	6. Prison Break

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some pretty crazy shit goes down!

Apollo had completely healed, and luckily bared no scars. Leo was at his side every second of everyday, his eyes ferocious that said: "Come closer and I'll slit your throat," but when he looked at me, all I saw was fierce gratitude. I suppose he's grateful for me standing up to Adam, our tyrant. His golden whip had been used multiple times since Apollo's punishment a month ago, by Adam and myself. I still could feel the heavy whip in my hand, as I gave ten lashes to my General. Guilt always gripped me when someone whispered his name. I sat at one of the tables with Leo and Apollo. No one was lively like they usually were, except for Adam's partner's which included Viper. I kept a hand on my sword at all times, it was encouraged that we fight all the time. Adam said it was to keep us on our toes, but he really just enjoyed watching everyone fight each other. I hadn't fought anyone yet, but Viper kept watching me like a snake about to strike. Apollo was whispering to Leo in a hushed voice, I laid my head on the wooden table. I was half-asleep when I heard soft footfalls of someone approaching quickly, I unsheathed my sword without looking behind me, and pointed it at my assailant. "Do not fight me, Viper."

He snickered, "But where's the fun in that?" I got up from my seat and faced him, he charged at me, and I side-stepped. I swung my sword and he parried. He jumped away, landing on a table and stepping into someone's food, I jumped after him and he jabbed at me. I parried with ease and punched him square in the jaw. Viper hissed, and swung his sword, I blocked it, but it narrowly cut my shoulder. I clicked my tongue in annoyance. I swung my sword in a large arch and he pulled back, I kicked him in the chest, and he landed on his back. "Don't challenge me, you dolt." I pointed the point of my sword at his throat, "I don't have time for you!" He grunted and got up, and left. Today was one of Adam's test days, the only day I got to see Kanda, I grinned at the golden prison cell key I had swiped from Viper mere seconds ago. I would free him, I was due to serve him food today. I grabbed a bowl of food and walked away from the tables. I slipped the key into the food and made sure it was fully disguised. I walked over to the wooden building and guards where posted at the door, they nodded at me and I smiled. I stood in front of Kanda's cell, he was cleaner, and fully healed now. He looked much better than the last time I saw him. His hair was down, long and beautiful.

I slipped the bowl of food to him, and his eyes locked with mine. Instead of looking away shamefully, I moved closer. "Be very careful when eating, who knows what they put in your food," I gave him a meaningful look. His eyes didn't light up with understanding, they stayed blank. "It'll be useful at the testing day," I left the room and hurried back to Leo and Apollo. They were smiling at each other when I sat down. "Aren't you two adorable?" I said with a kind smile, we were the only ones speaking. Leo blushed a bright red and scoffed. "We are not!" I rolled my eyes and raised my eyebrows at Apollo, who nudged Leo playfully.

I have been in this cell for a month. All I did was pace around, and wait. I had no idea when Adam would let me out, probably never if he got his way. The only thing I looked forward to was his test days, where he would "rub it in" that his training was effective, and my soldiers had only become strong under his training, not mine. I never paid attention to him. I only looked at one person. The teen with the white hair, a red scar, and that beautiful arm of his that was made out of innocence. Oh Gods, he was the prettiest man I'd ever laid eyes on. On Drafting Day I couldn't believe his village. All the things they shouted at him as he walked to the stage. I saw the change in his emotions, it was like he put a mask on, it went from terrified that he'd been chosen, to cold and angry. He was pretty intimidating to watch, especially when he was trading insults with Viper. That day, when we gave him the uniform, the black leather pants, and leather vest that clung to the wearer's bodies, I couldn't help but be shocked by the bruises and burns. He didn't put his head down, he stared everyone down, as if challenging them. It was shocking when my hand instinctively went to touch the skin on his neck where there were obvious signs of strangulation. He swatted me away like I wasn't the General of an army.

When he was attacked by the Shadow Creature, I was worried out of my mind, and I couldn't believe my eyes as his arm began to change from rugged, and red, to black and smooth. It blended perfectly with his leather sleeveless shirt, we called them vests, even though they weren't really. He was menacing, but secretly kind. I could see it in his eyes when he talked to Leo and Apollo. Sometimes he looked at me with a different type of kindness, and I had somehow accidentally grown attracted to him. He was quick and witty in combat, he was strong, and took no one's shit. I found ways to be near him, like purposely making him fight me during training, or readjusting his stances just so I could feel his skin, and I stared at him far too much. One day he would catch on, or he already had. Ever since the day he whipped me, with Adam's whip he never looked me in the eyes. He was forced to give me lashes, I understood, and I had heard what Adam said to him, "Whip him, or I'll burn you, or maybe I'll carve up your face? I wonder which." I couldn't believe Adam said that to my soldier. It wasn't Allen's fault that he had been the one to punish me. It was Adam's.

I stared at the chains binding my hands. I was pretty sure I was in love with Allen Walker. Let him hate me, resent me for it, but I loved him to pieces. It was quiet, but I heard the door opening slowly. Allen Walker entered my prison, and slipped my food through the metal bars. He didn't look away when I tried to meet his eyes. They were bright and excited. I wonder why, but then he spoke. "Be very careful when eating, who knows what they put in your food." I made sure to keep my face emotionless as I realized what he meant. In this food was a key, to set me free. "It'll be useful at the testing day," It all clicked. He wanted me to use the keys during the testing today, I smiled after he left. There was something else in his eyes, I wasn't one hundred percent sure, but it looked like love. I hoped it was love. I ate my soup, and took the small key out and hide it in my clothes. I would make sure they didn't find this key, Allen went to the trouble of getting it for me, I would definitely free myself.

Someone was punished again today. The victim screamed hysterically and thrashed from the whipping post. Blood splattered everyone as the punishment continued for what felt like hours. Apollo and Leo stood by me, looking terrified and incredibly sad. "SOMEONE HELP ME!" the victim screamed desperately. My throat tightened. I had screamed like that the day I got this scar on my face. "PLEASE!" I took a few steps forward, Leo clamped a hand on my shoulder.

"What are you doing?" he whispered. I clenched my fists, and glared at him from over my shoulder. His hand fell away, and he turned a sickly green. I stomped through the crowd, and they parted like the Red Sea. My sword was already in my hand. I stepped into the path of the golden whip, I grabbed it as Adam went in for another strike. "I think that's enough punishing for now Adam." I snarled. Someone unshackled the victim, I turned and saw Apollo and Leo hauling him away. Adam chuckled.

"It'll be your turn soon enough,"

Hours later, we all gathered in the Clearing. Kanda was nowhere to be seen. I had my hand on my sword, as the testing began. Viper was first, and they had a lengthy fight, and slowly but surely everyone was tested except for me. My mouth went dry when he frowned at me and tsked. Two soldiers walked towards me and I placed my mask over my emotions, I didn't let the fear show. They tackled me, and Apollo gasped. They took my sword from me, and ripped my shirt off. They held my wrists behind my back, and my knees dug into the hard earth beneath me. I gritted my teeth. "It seems as though Vipers keys disappeared earlier today," Adam remarked. "And you had fought him today, so the only explanation is that you stole them. You were assigned to feed General Kanda today, am I right?"

"You are right," I mutered. He growled.

"You will address me as General Adam," He snapped leaning down and spitting in my face. I bared my teeth.

"I will do no such thing," I told him.

He pressed on with his accusations, "I have every right to assume, no, no, I have evidence that you gave that key to General Kanda. You almost got away with it, but Viper is very clever and noticed Kanda Yuu had it." I nearly scoffed, Viper was not clever at all. I struggled desperately to get free as Adam held up the key. Kanda was dragged into the clearing, his eyes were wide when he saw me. I kept my facial expression in check. "Do you confess to giving the prisoner a key?" I nodded, "Do you confess to stealing from another officer?" I nodded, "Do you confess to opposing me the day I punished Apollo?" I nodded, the hatred surely showed through my eyes. "Hold out his right arm for me, please." The two soldiers obeyed. "Allen Walker, you refuse to follow my rules, you attempted to free my prisoner, you've talked back to me numerous times, and your eyes show pure resentment towards me. Your punishment will be dealt right now, in front of everyone." He pulled a dagger out of his pocket and carved into my skin. I tried to not scream. I watched the dagger create brutal, rough designs on my hand, blood dripped from the cuts in my skin, I was drenched in sweat, I could feel my mask cracking.

"I'm impressed, I was sure you'd be screaming," Adam said, or that's what I heard. He dug deeper into my skin and farther up my arm, past my wrist, he turned my hand over so my palm was facing up. Adam took his time, and I couldn't help it when my mask shattered to pieces and I screamed. I could remember when Viper's father carved up my face. The cold knife slicing up my face, and his friends holding me down, I was a caged animal then, as I was now. I screamed when that happened too. I was still screaming, I was thrashing, and the world spun. "You can make it stop, Allen." Adam said, stopping the dagger for a few seconds. "Just swear you won't do it again, and-"

"N-NO! I would do it t-t-thousands times until my General is free! Y-you are not my General, Adam. You have earned no respect!" I screamed hysterically. He was furious, my eyes didn't leave his face as he cut up my arm. It was past my elbow now, and soon my entire arm would be carved with intricate brutal designs. Tears blurred my vision, and the pain ebbed, I was probably passing out. It would've been a blessing if I passed out. I stayed awake as he finished up my punishment at my shoulder. Every inch of my right arm was a bleeding mess. The soldiers let go, and Adam got up and smiled as I fell face first onto the ground. "Now you'll need to wear gloves on both hands if you survive this war." My eyes somehow met Kanda's, he looked broken, like he had just watched someone he loved get tortured. I clenched my teeth, today was the day I was going to free him. I promised myself. People began to leave as I managed to push myself to my knees. I ignored the pain and stood. I grabbed my left wrist, it was glowing again, but this time it didn't transform, an instinct told me to grab my wrist and pull. So I did. And a giant sword appeared and my left arm disappeared. A white cloak covered my shoulders, and a mask appeared. Kanda's jaw literally dropped. Adam turned around as people began to shout, and he saw me. "You insist on fighting me after you have been punished? Fool."

The black waves rolled off of me, their little skeletal hands reaching for my enemy, I charged at him, I had to get him in a small space so he couldn't use his whip, or I had to take it. Adam grabbed his sickle shaped weapon and swung, it all looked like it was in slow motion. I parried, and slammed my knee into his abdomen, knocking the air out of him. He caught his breath just as I grabbed the collar of his shirt and threw him all the way into the forest. The tree he slammed into groaned and tilted. Adam got up and I ran past him, into the wood.


	7. Allen's Past

I could hear his raging footsteps behind me, he was closing in. I whipped around and when he appeared, I swung my giant sword, and he managed to block it. My bleeding arm ached, and the blood made the handle slippery, but I pressed on. He wielded his whip and swung it at me, it wrapped around my wrist, and despite the pain I laughed. I jumped. I flew so high in the air that I was above the canopy of tree leaves, and I could see the Clearing. I yanked my wrist closer to my body, causing Adam to propel forward.

When he was in range I slammed the hilt of my sword onto his head. The whip fell away and Adam screeched at me. Shhng! Shhhhhng! Shng! My blade slammed into his with such force it sent him flying backward, but he kept coming back. We kept fighting until we were back to the clearing, where everyone was still watching. Adam raised his sickle, and brought it down above my head, I dodged.

I charged at him again and spun in a circle in the air, with my sword outstretched the sickle flew out of his hand, and he collapsed. "Leave!" I told him, "You are no longer in charge!" He scrambled to get up and he ran away screaming, with his soldiers running after him, maybe it was too easy. Everyone was silent for a few seconds, but then they all cheered, even Viper. I didn't have the chance to celebrate. My innocence transformed back into my arm and I fell, but someone's strong arms caught me. Maybe they were Kanda's arms.

***

I felt warm, only, it was the type of warmth that came from another human body. I opened my eyes, I wasn't in the infirmary, like I should've been. I was in a much bigger bed, and the tent was bigger. I frantically looked around in my surroundings and my eyes locked with cobalt ones. I shot right up, and scrambled away backwards, he was lying in the bed next to me, his eyes watching me, weary with exhaustion. I hissed as pain flared in my arm, "Ow!" His features broke into a huge grin. This was the first time I had ever seen him smile like this. Maybe it was the first time he smiled at me. The pain subsided in my arm, his eyes locked with mine. I couldn't help but look away shamefully. "Thank you," he said.

"W-what?" I asked, my eyes widened, "But I-"

"You risked your life to free me, you did what you needed to do, and for that I am grateful."

"I'm just doing what everyone else would've," I muttered, I avoided looking at his face.

"I didn't see anyone else stopping punishments when the punished soldier screamed for aid, nor did I see anyone spitting in Adam's face. I didn't see anyone attempting to free me from my cell," he told me gently, his hand cupped my face and forced me to look him in the eyes. "I didn't see anyone outwardly oppose him like you did. You were injured by him, and yet you fought him by yourself!"

I laughed bitterly, "But-" He pulled my face towards his.

"You asked me to forgive you, and I do, I forgave you the moment you raised that whip," He murmured. His face was inches away from mine, the skin where he touched me was scalding hot. His eyes bored into mine, I think I was the one to come closer, or maybe it was him, but our lips collided. His hands found my hips, my arms wrapped around the back of his neck. A dull pain went through my wounded arm, but I was too preoccupied with the lips touching mine. I ran my hand though his beautifully long raven colored hair. His hands stayed at my hips, neither moving up or down my body, it was probably better that way, but his fingers twitched. He wanted to do more that touch my hips, apparently.

His body was strong against mine. I hoped this wasn't a dream, if it was I'd be pissed. My throat burned with the lack of oxygen, and we pulled apart. We stared into eachother's eyes. Kanda's blue eyes gleamed, his face was flushed and his breathing was ragged. I blushed, "S-sorry," Kanda smiled, and shook his head.

"I didn't know you liked men," was his reply.

"I like you," I blurted, "I don't know when it happened-"

"It just did," Kanda said, interrupting and completing my sentence. "Right?"

"Yeah,"

"I like you too," Kanda murmured shyly. I smiled, and started to giggle. Kanda gave me a questioning look, I covered my mouth and attempted to stop the laughing.

"What is it?" Kanda asked, starting to get offended.

"I-I never thought I'd fall in love with someone. I thought I'd be the first to die, and that'd be it," I admitted.

"Are you happy?"

"Honestly? I've never had love, I didn't know what love felt like, I felt like I was dead. Yes, I'm fucking happy, I thought I would die before I could get the chance to fall in love." I confessed, clutching his shirt. "I'm alive now,"

Kanda wrapped his arms around me, and stroked my hair. "Please tell me," he said softly, "Tell me your childhood."

"I was orphaned, The Church, that governed the village branded me as an outsider, because of my 'deformed' arm. I was treated badly, but I managed to live on my own without anyone to help me."

Kanda took a steady breathe. "So, what's the story behind you and Viper? I see how you two fight, and you both look at eachother like you wouldn't mind ripping the other's head off." I tensed.

No, no, no, no, no. "I-I can't, it's a long story anyway,"

"You can, I've got all the time in the world." He tightened his grip around me. "I'll be patient."

I placed my palm on his chest, I could feel his heart beating, I marked it as my anchor. I took a deep breathe. "His father treated me the worst, he doused me with holy water when he walked passed me. He convinced The Church to hold public punishments-" I couldn't do it. My eyes filled with tears, "he made a sport out of my suffering-"

"What kind of punishments?" Kanda pressed, "You skipped it," His eyes found my silver ones.

"They burned me, beat me. They even whipped me, I pleaded for mercy, begged for forgiveness, but no one ever saved me when I screamed for a savior." I whispered softly, "So, when I did it to you I couldn't- I hated myself." He was drawing soothing circles on my back with his fingers.

"Viper's father gave me the scar on my face. He gathered a group of people, and they held me down as he carved this into my face. I can't even stand the feeling of a dagger against my skin, that's all I think about."

Kanda pressed himself against me. "I'll kill him," he told me, "Give me permission, and I'll slit his throat, ear to ear."

After convincing Kanda to not kill Viper's father, we both left the tent and camp was quiet. My wound had been redressed with a fresh bundle of bandages, I couldn't bare to look at it, so Kanda dressed it for me. We passed the cook's tent, where we all got our food, no one was there, and headed straight for the Clearing. Everyone was there. Most of them were sitting, as if they were waiting for something, or someone. Everyone scrambled to their feet when they saw me. Someone I couldn't recognize whispered, "The Angel of Darkness," I almost laughed. It sounded ridiculous, were they talking about me?

"Yeah it's him," whispered another, "Did you see the demons that surrounded him when he transformed his arm?"

I glanced at Kanda, and gave him a questioning look. He shook his as if to say he had no idea where the nickname came from, or who created it. I yawned, "What time is it? How long have I been asleep?" I asked.

Kanda thought about it for a moment but then someone else, Apollo, answered for him. "A week."

My eyes widened, and my mouth parted slightly, "A week?!" I sputtered, glaring at Kanda, "Why didn't you say something?"

"You didn't ask," Kanda muttered, resuming his General-like attitude. I puffed out an annoyed breath.

Leo smirked, "General Kanda has been worried about you all week," he spoke up, the crowd snickered along with Leo as he said this, "He barely left that tent, I bet he didn't even sleep."

Apollo chipped in, "He's a big softie when it comes to you," I gave him a sly grin.

"Is that so?" I said innocently, I blinked twice and cast my gaze up to Kanda's face. He blushing, I laughed, but a familiar, annoying face turned the corner and joined the party. Viper glared at me, it was an effort not to spit in his face. He stopped glaring at me, and turned his attention to Kanda, "A messenger just came, a whole army was spotted not far from here, and it's not one of ours, they were headed this way," All the cheerfulness evaporated, just like that. Kanda's kind attitude also dissipated.

Kanda unsheathed his katana and pointed it at the crowd of people, soldiers. "Defend camp, what direction are they coming from, Viper?"

"North."

"I want the majority stationed to the North, lessen the defenses around the rest of camp, but don't give the enemy any room!" He commanded, everyone scattered to the winds, I nervously glanced at Kanda.

"You're not fighting," he told me, I crossed my arms defiantly.

"I am, there's nothing you can do to stop me," I shot back, "I'm a soldier aren't I?"

"You're injured," Kanda explained, "It wouldn't be wise-"

"War is not wise, Kanda. I am valuable in battle," I countered. Kanda sighed defeatedly.

"You'll be at my side the entire time." Kanda compromised. He turned on his heel, and I followed him. He placed a thin finger on the blade of his katana and it glowed blue, and we hurried to the northernmost point of camp. A chunk of us stood in complete, high alert silence. The sound of stomping boots almost made me jump out of my skin. Kanda was calm beside me, I couldn't imagine how. The army burst through the trees, and with a collective roar, the battle began. It was much different from my previous battle.

Instead of Akuma, there were tons of dark skinned people, in white jackets. They weren't Noah, because their eyes weren't gold, and none of them possessed scar-like crosses on their foreheads. My innocence activated, covering my entire body, and covering the features of my body and face. My arm elongated and transformed, the white cloak wrapped around me. An enemy came at me with a swift strike, I raised my arm, and blocked it. I landed a good slash with my claws, and my opponent burst into dust. I raised my eyebrows. It was way too easy.

I scanned my surroundings, Kanda was holding his own against his own opponent, I focused on the area around me. He couldn't have died. The black fog sprouted around me, and I sensed him behind me, I spun and kicked him in the abdomen. The skeletal hands were no longer hands, they had forms, they were small, black skeletons in the black fog. They looked terrifying, The Angel of Darkness was a kind way of putting it. My skeletons left death in their wake, plants died, and dead bodies decayed slightly.

My opponent collapsed, and I stabbed him in the heart with my long claws. Blood pooled from the wound as I retracted my claws from the corpse. More and more warriors were pouring through the trees, and soon there were too many. Kanda and I were back to back, our comrades were forced to retreat, but we held our ground. We were slowly being surrounded. "Kanda," I said fearfully, "We're losing."

I suddenly didn't want to die. I wanted the chance to love. I stared at the small skeleton figures reaching out of my black fog. I let it expand, and roll off of me in explosive waves. The small black figures rushed forward and everything in their way died. I concentrated on keeping everyone safe, I focused on killing the threat. I closed my eyes. The ground rumbled and soon it was quiet. Kanda sighed with relief. I peeked one eye open. The ground was littered with our enemies bodies, the ground was beginning to restore itself but the bodies remained dead. My innocence deactivated, and I swayed, suddenly dizzy.

"I think…I'm going to throw up," I moaned, and doubled over. I vomited on the ground, and swayed forward, nearly falling over.


	8. King of Shadows

Hours later we counted our dead, compared to our enemy, we were doing well. I didn't take the deaths lightly, I carried each corpse to where we decided we would lay the dead, and closed their glazed over eyes. Leo had been severely injured, but had survived, thankfully Apollo seemed perfectly fine. After we finished tallying the dead, Kanda went to his tent, and he motioned for me to follow. Once we were in the privacy of the tent, he cornered me. "Don't do that ever again," He told me. "You don't know the side-effects of your power, and it just seems to keep growing at an alarming rate." I nodded, but I was more interested in my power, rather than apprehensive. He moved closer to me, and wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me closer. "We almost died today," I said. "I thought-"

"But we lived, we're alive." Kanda responded. He licked his lips, and I shivered. I stood on my tiptoes and placed a soft kiss on his lips. I was glad I washed my mouth out earlier, I don't think vomit would've tasted very good on his lips. I placed my hands on his shoulders. He kissed me back, rougher than mine. "Not going easy on me?" I asked.

"Do you want me to go easy on you?" He replied.

"Where's the fun in that?" I kissed him, it was a hungry kiss. "Earlier today," I said, "That was my first kiss,"

"You're pretty good," Kanda remarked, before kissing my jaw. I bit my lip. At some point we had started moving towards the bed, but it was out of exhaustion, neither of us had any strength to stand for much longer. We both laid side by side and my eyes became heavy. Kanda placed a light kiss on my wounded palm, and we settled in for the night, not bothering to change clothes. We were nearly chest to chest, it took me merely a few seconds to fall asleep.

Early the next morning I woke up and stretched my tired limbs. I realized I was alone, I sat up and yawned just as Kanda walked into the tent with a new set of bandages. He smiled at me, "You're up early," he said. I moved to the edge of his bed and he took my injured arm and unwrapped the old bandages, his hands were steady and cool against my skin. "Look," he said softly, I hadn't realized I looked away. I forced myself to look, the scarred skin on my arm was shiny and slightly pink. I studied the intricate designs created by Adam's hand. It reminded me of unruly vines growing on one of the abandoned mansions in my old village. I probably made a disgusted face, because Kanda lifted my hand to his mouth and kissed it. "It looks like you don't need those bandages anymore,"

I smiled, "I guess not,"

Kanda pulled me out of bed and dragged me out of the tent. "I know that look on your face," he turned to face me and held both of my hands, with the biggest smile. "You're not disgusting, or ugly. The first time I saw you, in that crowd of people, even before I called your name, I knew I loved you." Now we were both smiling like idiots. I grabbed him by the shirt and kissed him passionately on the lips.

"I guess these two had the same idea, Leo." We broke apart to see Leo and Apollo standing a few feet away. I blushed.

"Shouldn't you two be fixing up camp?" Kanda replied halfheartedly, a blush was finding its way up his face to his cheeks.

"Shouldn't you be working as well?" Apollo countered, but then turned to Leo, "You owe me twenty bucks." Leo glared at him, and pouted.

"Why?" I asked, dreading the answer.

"We placed a bet on Drafting Day," Leo explained, "You two couldn't stop glaring at eachother, I bet that the both of you would kill each other. Apollo bet that you two would fall in love."

"I'm always right," Apollo chimed in. "and Allen?" I tilted my head to the side. "We won't tell Viper or anybody else, but i'm pretty sure everyone will figure it out eventually." With that, the two of them left, and so did we.

"I guess we should get working," Kanda said, "A lot of the supplies and tents were destroyed." We headed over to the tents that had collapsed nearby, Viper hissed at me as I walked by. I focused on repairing the tent, with Kanda's help. In a few minutes we reset the tent, and helped carry the crates of supplies back inside. I lifted one crate, and to my surprise, Viper helped me. His eyebrows were scrunched, and a weird emotion crossed his face. "I'm sorry," he said. I nearly dropped the box.

"W-what?" I sputtered, he glared at me, annoyed.

"When Adam punished you, I realized how horrible my father had been to you, and looking at how badly he and Adam scarred you, I feel horrible," He looked very guilty. I flashed him a smile.

"Well if you promise not to drop this crate on my foot, then you're forgiven." I replied. To Viper's credit, he didn't drop the crate. We carried the crate into the tent and went back. Kanda picked up a crate and assisted him.

"So, what were you two talking about?" Kanda asked.

"He told me he felt horrible for everything Adam and his father did, so I told him he'd be forgiven if he didn't drop that crate on my foot." Kanda laughed and we set the crate down in the tent. A few minutes later, everything had been repaired and everyone was taking a break. Apollo and Leo reappeared, conveniently after all the work had been done. Leo's usually perfect hair was utterly destroyed, like someone ran their fingers through his hair multiple times. I raised my eyebrows.

"And where have you two been?" I asked, but neither of them answered. Kanda gave me a sly smile, and I laughed. Leo pulled out the largest glass of alcohol i've ever seen. "We were looking for a drink," Leo explained after her sat down next to me and Kanda. Apollo sat down next to him.

"It's time to celebrate our second victory," Apollo said to me, "And however many victories General Kanda's had,"

"Twenty-nine," Kanda told him. Leo passed him the bottle, after taking a long drink. I declined and passed it to Apollo, who gave it to Viper. "Alcohol makes me fall asleep," he muttered. Thirty minutes later, the bottle was empty and Viper, Leo and Kanda were drunk. Leo and Viper were having a drunken conversation about food, and Apollo pursed his lips together, trying to keep from laughing beside me. Kanda leaned against me, "...Hey," he said, his words were only slightly slurred.

"What is it?" I asked with a yawn.

"Did you know...you're...hot?" he insisted, Apollo made a bizarre noise.

"I do now," I replied, "Do you know you're drunk?"

"I'm not drunk,"

"Only drunk people say that," I told him, he grumbled something I couldn't make out, and smashed his lips onto mine. His mouth moved from my mouth to my jaw, "K-Kanda!" My face heated, there were a lot of people around, but he was too drunk to care. I gave him a concerned look. Apollo raised his eyebrows, looking pretty amused. I maneuvered myself away from Kanda, but it was futile. He latched onto me again, and kissed me, I almost thought about shoving him off of me, but I rather enjoyed it, and he was much heavier than he looked. "H-hey…" Leo muttered, pointing at Kanda, who was about to kiss me again, "What's your opinion on grrreen beans?" I let loose a relieved sigh as Viper and Leo distracted him.

Apollo gave me a smirk. "He seems to like you,"

I snorted, "Shut up,"

"You like him..."

A smile tugged at my lips, "I guess I do."

"Potato salad is better than mashed potatoes," Kanda said loudly, drawing Apollo's attention. Apollo shook his head, outraged.

"Mashed potatoes are the best!" I laughed, and listened to the four of them bicker over potatoes.

"Potato salad tastes better,"

"I threw up the first time I ate them," Viper snapped, still grumpy even when drunk. His eyes snapped to mine. "What do you think?"

"Mashed potatoes are better when you put cheese and bacon on it." I explained, and they all gasped.

"I didn't think of that!" Leo said. I smiled, and got up from my sitting position.

"I'm going to stretch for a bit," I told Apollo. He merely nodded before engaging in the conversation. I walked away, and went a little ways away where there was enough space for me to stretch. I raised my arms above my head, but before I could even begin to stretch, I heard the snap of a twig in the forest. A black figure popped its head out, and curled a midnight colored claw at me. Follow. It disappeared within the wood. I tread carefully into the dark wood, away from the bright sunlight. It was silent. I looked behind me, but there was nothing but darkness where camp was merely seconds ago. My blood turned to ice. Where the fuck did I just go? "...Hello.." The woods were darker than night. The figure appeared again, farther away, motioning for me to follow. It seemed familiar somehow, as I picked my way through the thick trees. As I walked, the shadows seemed to come alive around me, whispering softly. "...tenebris, tenebris..." My heart pounded in my chest, and I broke out into a cold sweat.

The whispers got louder as I neared the black figure, and their chant changed, "..umbra regem…..umbra …...regem," The hairs on my body stood straight up. The black figure walked away slowly, and I trailed behind. "Where am I?" No response. The creature just moved onward, towards the darker parts on the forest. "Who - w-what are you?"

The creature still didn't respond, but stopped and waved a clawed hand. It dawned on me. It was a smaller Shadow Creature. An enormous castle loomed in front of me. It shimmered, and then solidified. It looked gothic victorian, with tall looming towers, and large metal gates. Vines suffocated the metal fences, and crimson roses grew from them. The gates creaked open, and the Shadow Creature led me inside. The sun did not shine. The cobblestone walkway was cracked, and some patches were missing. The great oak doors swung open, and the palace revealed itself. The floor was made of dark grey marble, and a black velvet carpet served as another path. There were huge columns holding up the massive vaulted ceilings.

Three on the right, and three on the left. Intricate swirls and designs covered the columns head to toe. The room was a giant square, and in the center was a throne fit for a king. To the left was a massive door, and to the right was a staircase, also made of the beautiful marble. The throne was empty, but standing near it was a cloaked figure. "Is that him?" asked a guttural voice, which seemed to be coming from the cloaked person.

The Shadow Creature made a series of growls and clicks, which I assumed meant yes. "Come forward, dear human," My knees were shaking, but I walked forward, with my eyes wide. I opened my mouth to ask why I was here, but he held his thin hand up. It was wrinkled and drained of color, like an old man's. I couldn't see his face beneath the cloak. "You're wondering how, and why you are here." He said, "When you first arrive to the military camp months ago, you were tested, and given three trials to complete." How did he know I was at a military camp, and how did he know about the tests? My heart skipped a beat and my breath quickened. "During these trials," he continued, "You encountered a Shadow Creature."

Was I on trial for the Shadow Creatures death? "It wasn't an ordinary Shadow Creature, it was The King of Shadows, and you killed him." He brought out a sword from beneath his cloak and pointed it at my chest. Beneath the hood I could see a smirk, he lowered the sword and stabbed himself in the palm with it.

"Anyone who kills the king must face the consequences." He told me. "The punishment is death, by a thousand cuts." The Shadow Creature behind me gripped my shoulders.

I thrashed under his grip, but the creature held me in place as the cloaked man came closer. He pointed the sword at my cheek, cutting the delicate skin. Droplets of blood dripped onto my clothes. "But, The King of Shadows was a tyrant, a murderer, a monster," The sword dropped away, "He said he'd give up the throne once he died, but he was immortal and impossible to kill, he knew this." The cloaked figure squeezed his bleeding hand. "He was foolish, and went to the human realm to kill you and your friend in the trials for sport, which is against our kingdoms laws. You survived and killed him," He kneeled, "Therefore, his powers transferred to you, and you wield the Shadow Kingdom." He pushed his hood down, to reveal golden hair and red eyes, a black, swirling crown appeared in his hands. It danced, and swirled, and I realized it was made out of shadows.

"I crown you, The King of Shadows."


	9. Lords and Ladies

I was cold. Thick snowflakes fell from the sky. I was laying on my back and facing the grey sky. I blinked, how did I get here? I was freezing, my clothes were sopping wet. I sat up, and I started to shake. Snow covered the ground, I was covered in it. My teeth chattered, as I crawled out of the snow. I struggled to stand, this vest wasn't enough to keep me warm. I wrapped my arms around myself, and attempted to find a way back to camp. I scraped my arm on the bark of a tree and hissed. I continued on for a good ten minutes, and I still hadn't found anything. I tripped over a tree root hidden in the snow, but continued on. I finally left the woods, and the familiar shapes of the tents were in front of me. "There he is!" someone exclaimed. A few seconds later someone wrapped a blanket around me, and crushed me in a hug. It was Kanda, "How the hell did you end up in the woods?!" He asked, but I was too cold to think straight.

"I-I'm cold," I stuttered out, and he lifted me up and held me close to his chest as he carried me away. His body heat warmed my freezing body, and he walked into our tent. He threw clothes at me and turned around. I quickly changed clothes and wrapped myself in the blanket again, sniffling. He turned and faced me. "Why were you there?" I shook my head, I remembered the palace, I remembered being crowned a king, but I wasn't going to tell him that. This secret was mine to keep until the perfect time.

"I-I don't remember anything," I lied smoothly, he gave me a questioning look, and my heartbeat quickened. Maybe he didn't believe me, but he nodded. "I just remember waking up in the woods, how long was I gone?"

"A day, and while you were missing, Cross paid me a visit." Kanda said, just as an unfamiliar man walked in. His hair was blood red, he smelled strongly of smoke. There was a white mask covering half of his face, and he stared at me. "So this is the idiot that got lost?" he asked, I assumed his name was Cross. Kanda gave him an irritated sigh.

I resisted the urge to snap at him. "He doesn't remember how he got there, Cross" The man smirked and drew out a pistol.

"In that case, he's an imbecile." His eyes locked with Kanda's "We need both of you at the meeting, which is actually why I came." He left the tent motioned for us to follow. A new, bigger tent with our - their - Kingdoms flag was in the middle of camp. We went inside the tent, and there were about five people inside. They were wearing white coats, and they had weird badges on their shoulders.

"Oh good, your here." one of them said, "The Earl's camps are on the Akuma Mountains, and they are invading the south as we speak. Rumor has it, the opposing army is extremely strong, and has defeated every legion we've sent. They're stronger than any other army we've seen from the Earl. We need a spy." No one said anything. "The army is heading south still, we'll intercept them quietly and sneak our spy in. We have forces hiding everywhere in the south, ready to surprise attack them and bring them down." The man shifted nervously, everyone looked extremely nervous.

"Is anyone willing to be our spy?" No response, my legs were shaking. I didn't want to be a spy, I didn't want to risk the chance of getting caught and tortured. "No one?" I saw Kanda almost take a step, my legs moved on their own.

"I'll do it," I said confidently.

"What? No." Kanda snapped. "I won't let you," I ignored him.

"We'll leave tomorrow, I'll get everything ready." said another person in a white jacket, he wore a beret, and had a crazed look in his eyes. "I'm Komui, by the way," he said. I nodded, and the tension in the room vanished. Someone let out a relieved sigh. God what was I thinking?! Kanda grunted and grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the tent. "Kanda, what're you doing?" I asked, he didn't answer until we were alone in his tent.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!?" Kanda shouted, shaking my shoulders, "Why did you volunteer?! It's suicide!"

"I saw you about to volunteer, and I just reacted! I didn't want you to go, so I volunteered." I said softly. Tears fell from his eyes.

"I was only going to do it if no one volunteered," he explained.

"You felt the tension in that room, no one else was going to volunteer!" I shouted. "I wanted to make sure it wasn't you, I wouldn't be able to stand it!"

"You think I can handle you in my enemies clutches?"

"You have to lead the army Kanda! Your the General! Im expendable."

He gave me a bitter laugh, "You're priceless to me, I don't what I'd do if you died!"

Kanda drew me close, "Tell me you'll come back,"

"I'll do whatever it takes to come back." I told him, we stood there in silence for a few minutes, breathing in each other's scent. Minutes later I laid beside him in bed, as he crushed me in a huge hug. As soon as my eyes shut, they opened again and I was somewhere else. I jerked awake, I was lying on a huge bed with black sheets and black curtains. I was wearing a long jacket in all black, at the bottom of the jacket, just above the floor, there was an assortment of grays, and darker blacks, like obsidian, in the pattern of dark flames. Or Shadows, now that I thought about it. My shirt was also black, as well as my pants. A crown rested on the nightstand next to me. It rippled and danced like black fire. I slipped it on. I opened the door to my room, and two fully armed guards greeted me. "Good morning, your Majesty." So it was morning here?

"Come this way, you Highness," I followed. I wasn't sure of this world's laws, or anything for that matter. I walked down a set of stairs, then another and down a few hallways until I ended up in a study, where a striking man stood in a black jacket, but it wasn't the man from before, who crowned me. He was much younger, around my age. His black-purple hair was spiky, and his eyes were dark violet with a bit of indigo in the middle. Strands of hair framed his sun-kissed face, the rest was slicked back. My heart betrayed me, clenching, like when I looked at Kanda.

"I'm Erian Dusk, i'm here to teach you everything you need to know to be King." He wore the same jacket as me, except the Shadows at the bottom of his jacket were white and silver, and had a different coat of arms than what was on mine. Mine was a black dragon, curled like a snake, and the shield was lined in silver. His was a fox, the shield lined with maroon. He leaned against the wooden desk, all the walls were lined with old leather books. An old, worn map sat at the desk. He plucked a book from one of the shelves, and set it down on the desk beside him. "First, we'll start with the Lords and Ladies, then the Lesser Lords, and so on," He opened the book and motioned for me to take a seat, and I did.

"There are four Lords, and four Ladies, each who rule a plot of land, and have their own court." he explained, "The four Lords are Rhys, Soworthe, Lee, and Xion. The four Ladies are Ariaxio, Lia, Cassian, and Nym. Rhys is extremely strong, Soworthe can breathe fire, Lee is indestructible, and Xion can manipulate water. Ariaxio can invade minds, Lia can paralyze people by singing, Cassian can manipulate the wind, and Nym can move the earth."

I tried to absorb all of this information, "Their last names are listed in this book, because their families are forever Lords and Ladies, the list cannot be altered in any way, unless voted upon. Their family trees-" he turned a page "-are updated constantly and are up to date"

Rhys Ashdeck. Soworthe Mccormick. Lee North. Xion Dusk, Erian was listed as his son, I raised an eyebrow, but kept reading. Ariaxio Ru. Lia Richards. Cassian Windfall. Nym Ellian.

"There are three four Lesser Lords, Autumn, Winter, Spring, and Summer. All of them are male, and they have magic, but it's not as strong as the Lords, but they are still significant. They help speed along the change in seasons, but that's about it." He closed the book and yawned.

"After that, there are only warriors and peasants, but that's pretty self-explanatory, we don't harbor slaves, because we have no need for any." He put the book back on the shelf, and turned to the map on the desk. He pointed to the center of the map, it was a big section of the map, around in were four other sections, cut in half to equal eight. The four corners of the continent were small ovals, one with a leaf, another with a snowflake, another one with a sun and another with a blooming flower. The four corners were obviously for the four males, Autumn, Winter, Spring and Summer. The whole continent was shaped like a rectangle, except instead of sharp sides and angles, it was roughly curved.

"This is where we are, The King's Court. To the southwest, is Xion and Cassian." He pointed to the southern section of the map, he pointed at the top, smaller section, "Xion and his court live here," he pointed to the bottom section, "Cassian is here." His hand moved to the northwest, "Lia, and Lee." Lee was on the top section, Lia on bottom. Southeast is where Nym and Rhys lived. Nym on top, and Rhys on the bottom section. Southwest, Lee and Ariaxio. Lee lived at the bottom section and Ariaxio on the top.

"Since each Lady and Lord are paired up, they often plan arranged marriage with one of their children, to keep the peace. A war between a court could get bloody very fast." Erian explained. "If that ever happens, you're the only one who could even attempt to stop it." Erian stretched a little and tried to suppress a yawn.

"Do you want a tour of your castle?" he asked, "I'm tired of sitting around."

"Sure," I stood from my chair, glad to have time to get the blood moving.

"This way, your Majesty," He said with a flourish of his hand. We left the study, and went down the hall, there was a door to the left, "That's the Library," Tall windows covered the right side of the hall, showing off beautiful fountains, and flowers. On the outside, the castle was menacing, but within the castle, and behind it, it was rather magnificent. The hall turned left, but there was a door to the right, leading to the garden I had just been staring at. "Beautiful, isn't it?" Erian remarked. The sun shined down on us, and I stared at the roses, Erian stuck his palm into one of the fountains. "So, what're you doing in the human world right now?"

"Preparing for the final battle, hopefully."

"And you have to be a spy to do so?" he said casually, "Very noble of you, a true quality of a good King."

"I would do anything to protect him, and to end this war," I muttered. The rose darkened, as Shadows swirled lazily around it, it bloomed further, and turned black.

"Protect who?" Erian asked, he didn't ask about

"The man I love," Erian stared at the darkened rose, and his eyes widened with astonishment and curiosity.


	10. Spying on the Devil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Allen Walker agrees to spy on the Noah. Where could this lead?

I woke up before dawn to someone shaking me awake. Cross' crimson hair was the only reason I recognized him. "Get up," he said gruffly, the cigarette sticking out between his lips nearly fell out. I pushed myself up and glared at him. "I'm up," I was already rethinking my decision, even though it would do me no good. I crawled around Kanda's sleeping form and landed nimbly on my feet, and stared at him. The man took a long drag from his cigarette, and handed me a bundle of clothes.

"Put those on, I'll be waiting outside," he muttered, puffing out a plume of smoke. He left swiftly and I changed, neatly folding my clothes, I took a scrap of paper and wrote: "I'll come back," on it, and placed it on my folded clothing. Hopefully Kanda would see it. My new clothes were not new by any means, they were old, they were clothes only a slave would be wearing. There were bandages too, and I wrapped my arm in them, to cover up my innocence. I laced up my beat up boots and left the tent, where Cross was impatiently waiting. He held shackles and chains in his hands, as well as a key. I held out my wrists to him, and secured the shackles, the chains clinked. The shackles were freezing where it touched my skin. He still had something in his hands. He unlocked it and put it around my neck and clicked it into place. It was a metal collar, with a chain attached to it.

I took a deep, unsteady breath. When I exhaled, a cloud of white smoke came out. I was becoming colder by the second. I followed him as he lead me to who knows where. We passed Leo, Apollo and Viper all eating an early breakfast. Apollo had tried to catch my attention, but Cross snapped at him. "Don't distract him," Cross said sharply. Apollo didn't say a word. Soon we stopped at a carriage pulled by horses. Cross opened the doors, and there were a few dozen slaves packed inside. He took ahold of my shoulders and whispered in my ear, "Good luck, we'll have someone check on your progress everyday." Then I was unceremoniously thrown into the carriage with all the other slaves. None of them reacted, they all had a haunted, gaunt look to huddled together for warmth, and soon, so did I. We were all freezing in the carriage as we rode nonstop. I wrapped my arms around myself, and someone leaned heavily against me, snoring. True fear gripped me, my chains rattled as I shook in terror.

My eyes became heavy against my will, and I was sucked away, into another world, the world I visited only when I slept. It was extremely warm in my room, and the floor creaked as someone tended to the fire roaring in the fireplace. "Your up early, your Highness," Abruptly, Erian swung the door open and sauntered in with a devilish smirk, but he didn't look happy.

"I woke you, because you didn't tell me being a spy required you to disguise yourself as a slave." Erian said coolly, but an undercurrent of anger was evident. "Now your at risk, and if you are harmed there, there is no telling what might happen to you here."

"I had no clue, until this morning," I told him, the cold from my physical body was crossing over to this one, and I shuddered. "I won't stay long if I can get the information quickly enough," I retorted, the shadows from the fire echoed me. I blinked and I was back in the carriage, and we had stopped. A few seconds later, the doors were opened and we were dragged out. There was no resistance from any of the slaves, so I followed their lead. It was snowing profusely, so it was much colder outside than inside the carriage.

Soldiers with golden swords and white clothing greeted the drivers of the carriage, and handed them a pouch of golden coins. All the soldiers were dark skinned, and had crosses on their foreheads. I was surrounded by the enemy. They rounded us up like a herd of cattle, and escorted us to camp. It took about ten minutes to walk there, but I was freezing my ass off, so it felt like nearly an hour. We arrived, and it wasn't a camp we entered. It was a small village that they ransacked. Weapons laid unattended by a small, warm fire. We were lead to one of the buildings.

"Line up," snapped one of the soldiers, with a spear. The slaves took their time with this, but eventually we were in a perfect line, shoulder to shoulder. I stared at nothing particular, as another Noah, different from the soldiers, appeared. He was wearing a purple jacket, lined with dark blue. His eyes were golden, more golden than any Noah I had ever seen. Dark purple butterflies fluttered around him, he took a long drag of his cigarette, and ran a hand through his dark, slicked back hair. "I want this one," He said, his voice had an otherworldly accent. He was pointing at me. "Come with me," he purred, he grabbed the chain attached to my collar and walked away, dragging me with him.

He walked over to a tall building, there were eleven other buildings like this one. He swung open the door and stomped inside. A slave greeted him by taking off his jacket, the Noah jerked his head in my direction and went upstairs by himself. The slave took my hand and dragged me into a kitchen. She smiled at me, and whispered. "Hi, I'm Lenalee Lee, what's your name?" She looked exactly like Komui. She wore a black dress, the collar of the dress was tied with a black bow. There were ruffles were shaped in a U, with buttons that were clasped together above her breasts. It looked gothic victorian to me, with ruffles on the hem. The long sleeves were also ruffled, she was adorable, and it almost made someone feel like they needed to protect her.

"Red," I stuttered out, I couldn't trust her, even if she did look like Komui, but then again, I didn't know Komui either. Who knew if she was a spy herself, spying on the slaves and reporting to the Noah. "Your not a good liar, but I'll accept it," she said cheerfully, she took my hand again and pointed to the stove, which had food cooking "My job is to cook and clean, mostly, but sometimes I run errands for Master Tyki."

She took me into a washroom, "This is where we wash his clothes-" she moved to another room, a smaller room with two beds. "This is where we sleep, it's not much, but it's better than the other slaves." She pointed to the silver bells hanging by the door. "These bells ring when Master needs us. The left one is yours, mine is the right," I nodded. I realized she didn't wear a collar, like everyone else. I asked her about it.

"The Master is very kind to his slaves, and deems them unnecessary," she explained. But I didn't think that was the case. Maybe it was just a ploy, but I didn't say that.

"How long have you been here?" I asked, very quietly.

"Since I was sold, seven years ago," She told me, with a sad look in her eyes. I lowered my head.

"Sorry," I said to her.

"How long have you been a slave?" she asked. I guessed it was only fair for me to tell her, even if I was never a slave until now.

"About a year," I replied, with a strained smile. A bell rang, the right one.

"I'll be back," she rushed out of the room and up the stairs. A few seconds later she came back down, with an a tray with empty tea cups. "Dinner time," she said brightly, she handed me a tray and began piling food on it, she carried a water jug and we both walked up the stairs and to the only door that was open. Inside was the man, I'm guessing his name was Tyki. We placed his food on the table. "You can leave, Lenalee, I have some business with the new one." he said gently. Fear gripped my heart, but I stayed behind.

He got up from his chair, and stared at me. His thumb traced the scar on my face, he inspected my eyes, pulled up my sleeves, and stared at the scar Adam had given me. He looked at the scars from the Shadow King. Then he looked at my other arm, completely bandaged. He started to undo the bandage, and I hissed. He gave me a quizzical look, "Are you injured?" I shook my head. He tightened his grip on my arm and undid the bandage. He stared at it for a full minute. He unlocked the collar around my neck and threw it away. He snapped the chains on my wrists, but kept the shackles. "So, are you going to tell me where you got those scars, I mean, one of those were obviously from a Shadow Creature, but the others," He waited a few seconds, when it was obvious I wasn't going to speak, he clicked his tongue and said firmly, "Speak."

I tried to come up with something convincing, "My previous slave owners," I lied. He nodded, and dismissed me. I hurried out of the room with a relieved sigh, and Lenalee was waiting eagerly.

"Congrats," she said, motioning to my throat, I smiled. Thirty minutes later we brought down his empty tray, and he left for the night. Lenalee and I left too. "It's time for our dinner, Red." she explained, and I followed. We walked down the street, to the middle of the village. We chatted about random things. "I'm going to buy my way out," Lenalee said, "and get married to a wealthy man." I snorted.

"What? You think I can't do it?"

"I think that man is not going to know what hit him when he meets you," I replied, "He'll probably marry you on the spot." She busted out laughing. We finally made it to wherever we were supposed to be, because the road widened and there was a cook wearing a white cap.

"Hello dearest!" said the cheerful cook, as he spotted Lenalee, she smiled. "Who is this adorable fellow with you?"

"He's new, Jerry," she said, "What's for dinner?" Jerry smiled, and waved the ladle in his hand around.

"Potato soup," He told her, "It's delicious," he added. He handed us both a bowl of the soup, and we sat down. We ate casually, with bits of conversation in between bites. "I really like cake," Lenalee said, after I asked her what her favorite food was. "Jerry sneaks some in on my birthday, and the other slave's birthdays" I smiled, "Chocolate has to be the best, though," We finished our food, and headed back to the house.

"Hm, Ice-cream has to be my favorite, strawberry is amazing." I told her, she nodded in agreement.

"Strawberry shortcake with strawberry ice-cream." she suggested, "When we get free, we should go get some, and you can help me get a man, and I can help you get a woman, or a man, whatever you want," I laughed.

"Deal," We opened the door and Tyki was waiting, with a yawn he handed me some clothes and retreated away back to his lavish room. "Try them on!" Lenalee demanded, shoving me toward a bathroom excitedly. I locked the door behind me, and got dressed in my new clothing, it was in all white, lined with a darker silver. The pants cling to my legs, and the boots reached my knees. There was no shirt, but there was a jacket with a hood that reached all the way down to my heels and had no sleeves. It had no buttons either, but when I put it on it sewed itself together, like a braid, leaving tiny slips of skin visible, stopping right below my stomach, leaving the rest of the jacket to flow freely. I almost groaned with annoyance. It was tight across my chest, but breathable. It trailed behind me as I walked out of the bathroom with my arms self-consciously crossed. Lenalee nodded with appraisal.

"Tyki is good with clothes, white is totally your color, but then again, so is black." she nodded to herself. The left bell rang, and a blue light flashed next to it. "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you about the lights, blue means tea, red means food and green means clean," Lenalee explained, "Master likes to be efficient." She and I went into the kitchen and she prepared the tea. I went upstairs with it, and a small cake. A different door was open, and I went inside, he was sitting at his desk writing. I set the tray down, and he looked up. He took in my appearance, and smiled. I poured the tea, looking bored, and set the cake next to the cup of tea. I turned to leave, when he stopped me, "Wait, what's your name?"

"Red," I lied. He noticed.

"Your real name,"

"That is my real name,"


	11. Stranger Danger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A spy and a slave. The story unfolds

"I can't help you spy, if you don't give me your real name," Tyki said, stirring his tea nonchalantly. His golden eyes stared into mine, I furrowed my brow in mock confusion. He chuckled.

"I'm not-"

"Oh, but you are," Tyki said, "and I want to help you," He took a sip of his tea and scrunched up his nose before adding a cube of sugar, and then after a few seconds he added another. "So, what's your name?"

"Why do you want to help me?" I asked. He got up from his chair, his tea forgotten. He looked alot like Erian, but it was comforting. He leaned against his desk, and stared at me, taking another look at my attire. "Because i'm sick of the Earl, I want this useless war to end, and I don't want him to win. I want the humans to win, so I'll do whatever it takes. Now, what's your real name?"

I pressed my lips together, "Allen Walker," He nodded and gave me a cat-like smile.

"It suits you," He commented, "I'll gather all the information I can for you, but the meeting had been called off early, so you'll have a chance to get anything you need." I nodded.

I woke up in my bed. Not my bed in the Shadow Kingdom, but the bed I laid down in last night. I hadn't gone back. I was immediately wide awake, why hadn't I gone back? I reached for my shadows, and the responded with gentle whispers, I let out a sigh of relief, and Lenalee yawn noisily and I snuffed the shadows out. She rolled out of bed and smiled at me. "I forgot to mention that Tyki is going to a meeting today, so we have the day off." She took a bundle of clothes and headed off to a bathroom to change. I grabbed some of my clothes and changed in the room.

I left the room and went into the kitchen and on the stove Tyki had written a short list of things we needed to complete for the day. The list comprised of washing the dishes, cleaning his clothes, dusting the library, cleaning the bathrooms, wiping down the walls, and cooking dinner, and sweeping. Lenalee took care of the dishes, cooking dinner and sweeping, so that left me with washing his clothes, wiping down the walls, and cleaning the bathrooms, and dusting the library. I gave her a half-hearted glare, and she laughed. I walked over to the pile of clothes nearby and washed them, which only took twenty minutes, then I moved on to cleaning the bathrooms which took a considerable amount of time. I had to scrub the floor, clean the sink, wipe the mirror, and scrub the toilet. Then I went to the four other bathrooms, and as I did so, I found myself wondering why he had so many. It's not like he used every single one.

I finished wiping the walls fairly quickly and moved on to dusting the library. I opened the door holding a feather duster. The library was magnificent, and chalk full of books. I glanced at a few and dusted for what felt like hours, the library went on for ages, and I groaned loud when I discovered another section that I hadn't dusted.

A few hours or so later we both finished our chores, except dinner, which was to be cooked later. We both left to get lunch, and then we walked around the small village for a while, since we had nearly the whole day to spend doing what we liked. Lenalee chatted with Jerry, and soon I somehow ended up talking about mashed potatoes with him. It reminded me of camp. For the rest of the day, my mood was slightly dampened. The sky became a gloomy grey, and we headed back to our Master's home. I was determined not to call it my home. I yawned when I entered the home, and Lenalee turned on the stove, and the room warmed as she started Tyki's dinner. He was due back in thirty minutes or less. I helped her as she instructed me carefully what to do. "This is my favorite part of the day," she remarked.

"Why?" I asked, chopping up a carrot, she eyed the proportions carefully and plopped them into the pot of boiling water.

"My brother taught me how to cook, and I remember the good times when I cook. I remember his smile." I grimaced, if her brother was Komui, could I tell her I knew him?

"What is his name?" I asked, I almost instantly regretted it. She smiled broadly.

"Komui, Komui Lee." My eyes widened, it was confirmed. She was his sister.

"I-I know him," I muttered out, "I met him before I was sold,"

"You did!?" Lenalee squeaked, "What is he like? Does he still obsess over science? Is he handsome?"

"I don't know, I only saw him for a short time, but I bet he misses you, and he's a huge science geek." She laughed. A door slammed shut somewhere inside the house. We stopped talking and she jumped. "W-w-what was that?" she stuttered out.

"It's probably Master Tyki," I said confidently, "Wait here," I walked out of the kitchen and casually walked to the front door, and checked some of the nearby rooms. No one was here. I shrugged and went back to the kitchen. Lenalee was still looking a little anxious, but otherwise fine. She added some vegetables to the pot. I looked behind me, I still felt a little jumpy, and behind me was two males. One grabbed Lenalee. She screamed. I was tackled to the floor, my arms were held behind me and the person restraining me pressed on me heavily and I could barely breathe. He yanked me up, off my feet and slammed my head into the wall. "Hi there, cutie." said the one holding Lenalee, he had green eyes.

It all hit me at once, we were slaves, and not viewed as people. I fought against the person holding my hands behind my back. He twisted my arm, and I gasped. The green eyed one unbuttoned the buttons on her dress, Lenalee was crying. He had a hand on her breast, and his arm was around her waist. I grit my teeth and threw my head back, and slammed into my attackers face. I felt something crack, the grip loosened, and I threw a solid punch at the green eyed one. He shouted, "Get that brat!" The pot left on the stove was boiling over, the buff one kicked me a sent me flying into the wall. I covered my head as I landed. I curled in on myself, with my back facing the ceiling. I was kicked again, and blood splattered on the floor, I realized it was mine. I was grabbed by the throat, and Lenalee was screaming at the top of her lungs. I clawed at the strong hands cutting off my oxygen. His eyes were brown, he had golden hair. I was lifted off the ground and dragged over to the stove to the boiling pot. The green eyed one dragged Lenalee over too, "Watch."

The golden haired one pushed my head closer to the boiling water. Lenalee was screaming even louder, and sobbing. I thrashed, as my face got even closer. The heat burned, I started screaming too. I thought The blonde one whispered in my ear, "Isn't this fun?" God I was going to die. I was going to die! Tears blurred my vision, and suddenly my body reacted. I used the shadows to knock the pot off the stove, just a small amount, so it wasn't noticeable. "Jesus Scott!" said the green eyed one. Scott growled at me, I kicked him, and threw him on his ass. I headbutted the green eyed one, and grabbed Lenalee's hand, and dragged her down the hall. She took the lead, and led me into the library, but Scott came into the room, alone and locked the door. He grabbed the sword I hadn't noticed he had before, he was an armed warrior. His eyes were alight with blood-lust. He swung his sword in an arch, I evaded perfectly. I shoved Lenalee away, "Run!" She disappeared behind a bookcase and I smiled.

"Why are you smiling, when you are about to die?" Scott said, twirling his sword. She was safe. Scott struck again, and I dodged. I had no way of knowing when Master Tyki would get here. He swung to strike again, I nearly didn't dodge, he sliced my shirt open and grazed my skin with the tip of his sword. I was at an advantage, I had powers he didn't. It wasn't a wise decision, but I did it anyway. I gathered the shadows into the shape of my sword back at camp. It rippled and writhed. He charged at me, and I ran forward, he aimed for me, but I was much faster. I swung my sword, but he managed to block it with terrifying accuracy.

My sword made no sound as it whipped through the air, I kept swinging, and he kept blocking. He swung at me, and I blocked it. Our swords collided, and a loud echoing crash sounded, both of our swords went flying. We jumped apart, breathing hard. I let my sword disappear, Scott ran at me. His fist connected with my face, and I kicked him in the stomach. I tried something else too, I summoned the shadows around my fists, he rushed at me again, obviously stressed. The magic built up around my hand. Someone was banging on the door, yelling. He was still a little ways away, but my hand began to shake, so I threw the punch.

The shadows flew towards him, and he was knocked off his feet, he flew into the door. The door broke off its hinges, and he groaned as he landed. I was breathing hard. I let the shadows evaporate. Tyki stepped through the door, I brought my hand to my nose where I'd been hit. Blood dripped down my face. There were soft footsteps, and Lenalee appeared a few feet away. Tyki had the green eyed boy in his custody. He glared at Scott. "What the hell happened?" I laughed at bit bitterly.

"Well…" Lenalee said, "Someone broke into your house and attacked us," She began to button up her dress again. I glared at the green eyed one.

"Travis-he didn't-" Tyki stuttered, his face a mask of rage. Lenalee shook her head and smiled.

"Red punched him in the face, but then-" she looked at me and I picked up the story.

"Basically they tried to burn my face off, that's why the pot was on the kitchen floor, then we hid in here, but-" I pointed at the unconscious Scott "he ruined everything, and attacked us," Tyki nodded. Scott groaned, and lifted up his head.

Tyki grabbed Scott and dragged both him and Travis out of the house. He literally threw them, and two other soldiers dragged them off somewhere. Tyki dusted himself off, and turned to Lenalee. "Are you hurt?" she shook her head. "Good, Red, come with me," We went into the bathroom and Tyki gave me something to wash my face off with. "Tomorrow i'm going to another meeting, so I'll take both of you with me." I rubbed the blood off my face and nodded. That night I dreamed of the Shadow Kingdom.


	12. Revealing the Spy

I let out a frustrated sigh. "It's not working," The shadows kept dying out. I had been sitting here for over three hours.

"Try harder, envision the shape." Erian commented, "Like the sword from today," I pouted slightly, blocking the sun with my arm. We stood behind the castle, the morning sun was bright and vibrant. I tried again, summoning the shadows within me. They danced, they had their own will, but I could make them do whatever I wanted. They were mine. I closed my eyes and imagined a bunny. It flickered for a second before disappearing, again.

"Damn it," I had only used the shadows in a time of stress, or adrenaline. That's why it was difficult to manipulate my powers, Erian explained. I tried again, I kept my eyes open this time, the ears, fluffy tail, it's small feet. It's furry body. I created the image in my mind, it's formed shimmered, and it appeared again. I concentrated on it, keeping the image fresh in my mind. The shadows didn't wiggle, or blow in the wind, it maintained a solid shape. It hopped energetically over to Erian and sniffed his boot. "Good job," Erian said, leaning down to pet the animal. It skittered away into the woods.

"Where'd it go?" I asked, he shook his head.

"I'm not sure," He turned to face me, "Let's move on, try a wolf now," I frowned. I shaped the shadows into a wolf. It snarled viciously, and prowled toward us. I crossed my arms, it snapped it's jaws. "Sit," I said firmly. The wolf sat. "Roll over," I said with a smile. It was becoming easier to form animals now. The wolf rolled over and licked my boot. My smile broadened. Erian took a treat out of his pocket and threw it to the animal, he jumped up and ate it. "Good boy, let's go inside, i'm hot."

I nodded, the wolf followed us. I smiled and nudged it away very gently. We continued walking back, passing the rose bushes and lilies. Erian swung the doors open, we walked inside. The wolf was still following me. "Shoo boy," The wolf sat, looking very pleased with himself.

"I don't think he's going to leave, look how cute he is," Erian said with a playful smirk, "You should keep him,"

"Oh, alright!" The wolf bounded toward me, and jumped on me. I crashed to the floor with a big "Oof!" My crown bounced away, and the wolf laid on me, it's head resting on my chest looking at me. Erian leaned down and picked up my crown and petted the wolf. I decided his name would Ro. I pet him and his tail wiggled. I rolled over and got up, Erian put the crown back on my head theatrically. "The Crown, my King," I laughed. He twirled around, smiling. "Do you know how to dance, your Highness?" I shook my head.

"Why?" I asked, he shrugged.

"There's a ball soon, where all the Lord's will attend, and meet you, at your Coronation." Erian explained. "I could teach you," I paled.

"A-a coronation?"

"Yes, every King gets one, even Humans." Erian explained, he leaned over to scratch Ro's ear. "You could sit on your throne and watch everyone dance, but that sounds boring. Oh, you'll be meeting the Lords too."

"When?" I asked, giving him a glare for not telling me earlier. Erian thought for a minute.

"Rhys and Nym will be here first, tomorrow," Erian said offhandedly, "My father is probably already on his way, All of the Lords and Ladies will be here eventually tomorrow." He guided me to an empty ballroom. "This is one of the twelve ballrooms in the palace. We can practice here if you like."

"Oh thank god." I said, "I can't dance to save my life!" He chuckled a little, Ro had ran off somewhere nearby, I could hear the faint noise of his claws skittering across the marble floors. Erian took off his coat to reveal a white button up shirt, he rolled up his sleeves, revealing his slightly muscular arms. I looked away, suddenly embarrassed. He took my hand and placed it on his shoulder, his hand went to my lower back. Our free hands were suddenly clasped together. "The taller person always leads." Erian told me, he tilted his head down slightly to look in my eyes.

"Step back with your right foot," He instructed, I nodded and stepped back, just as he stepped forward. "Take a step to the left with your left foot, and put both of your feet together."

I clumsily attempted to follow his instructions. He smiled at me, "Now step forward with your left, and slide to the right." We ended up in our original position. "Your really good, Allen." His eyes sparkled, and we danced again, and again until I was almost as graceful as he was. He gave me a mischievous smirk. "Are you ready for the harder version?" I wasn't entirely ready, but we danced anyway. We moved around the room, he spun me, and I was afraid I was going to fall, but his grip was strong. Slow haunting waltz music played, and the lights turned off. Candles flickered to life, casting ghostly shadows across the huge room. There was only enough light to where I could see his face clearly, but it was still dark.

"What the fuck?" I muttered. Erian laughed.

"The castle is magic, and almost has a mind of its own,"

The shadows whispered to me, "We dance," and I made them into vague human shapes on accident, without a thought. Maybe it was because the shadows wanted to dance, or it was because I was getting better at using my powers. It was probably the first option. "Creepy," Erian said, as the shadows danced in unison with us.

"They wanted it," I told him. He gave me a slightly concerned and quizzical look.

"You can hear them talk?" He asked, I nodded, getting quite concerned myself.

"Is that bad?" I asked.

"The only record of anyone being able to hear the shadows speak was the first Shadow King, King Mana. He died many, many years ago." His eyes sparkled with excitement suddenly.

"Maybe your a descendant, do you know who your father is? Or mother?" We stopped dancing. I looked at anything but him. He didn't seem to get it.

"I don't know my parents," I whispered, "I was and always have been an orphan. I didn't have the best childhood either,"

The shadow dancers vanished. "What do you mean?"

"I was homeless in my village, and treated poorly. I ended up getting drafted because I didn't have a job." Vipers face flashed in my mind. His father's face invaded my mind. I clenched my teeth and Erian frowned. My fingers traced my scar.

"That's how you got that scar?" I nodded and he patted my shoulders. "Your King now, they probably wont do anything half as great as you will" I smiled, the world suddenly tilted slightly, and I knew instantly that I was waking up. I rubbed my eyes and yawned. "Time to sleep?" Erian guessed. I was getting dizzier. "Someone's probably shaking you," Erian said, as I nearly fell over into his arms. My eyes closed shut and I felt myself fall, before they opened again.

"Good morning Red!" Lenalee said, "You sleep like the dead! We gotta get ready for the meeting today, we're going with Tyki, since he doesn't want to leave us alone again, remember?" I did remember. We both hurried and got dressed, and brought Tyki tea. He took a sip and looked at both of us.

"I'm going to have to shackle you, the other Noah won't be happy if I keep you off a leash." Tyki said, "It's just a precaution, nothing more, I might treat you a little harsher, but that's it," I barely was taking any of this information in, I was busy thinking about the Coronation soon, and about meeting the Lords and Ladies today. "Red are you listening?"

"Hm?" I looked up, and Lenalee was gone, Tyki shook his head.

"Did you meet any extremely strong Noah recently?"

"No, why?"

"I don't want anyone to recognize you," Tyki said, getting up from his seat. "Your here to spy, and this might be the best time for you to gather information, all I can tell you, is stuff you probably already know." I nodded. Lenalee came back with a plate of food, and Tyki ate quickly before a carriage arrived at the door. It was black, and very gothic looking. It was being pulled by huge horses. The three of us climbed in. There was a small girl licking a lollipop, sitting next to a ig burly man with no pupils. I didn't look at either of them after that. "Skin, Rhode, a pleasure to see you,"

"I see you brought your pets," The small girl said, "When did you get a new one?" She grabbed the chain connected to my collar forcefully, and yanked. I noticed a crazed look in her eyes as she looked at me. Her sharp nail trailed my scar from my cheek to my chin. "Now Rhode, behave," she let go and pouted at Tyki. Skin's eyes never left the window. Ten minutes later we arrived at a huge building, and we all left the carriage. Lenalee stuck with me, looking scared out of her mind as we made our way through the many halls of the building. It was too quiet.

We ended up in a room with a long table, with most of the seats filled, except for four of them. Rhode, Skin and Tyki sat in them. Lenalee and I stood at his side. The last seat was vacant. Tyki was tapping his fingers on the table impatiently. "Why so nervous, Tyki?" said a girl in a nicely tailored suit.

"The Earl gets worse and worse each meeting Lulu-"

"I'm here my lovelies!~" The man was fat, and the mask he wore was terrifying. "What's the meeting about this time?~" The Noah tensed in their seats. The man ruffled Skins hair, and I could see him shaking.

"Earl, it's about the Kingdom's forces." Tyki began. "We need to reposition our army!"

"Oh, but the Kingdom's forces don't know about the other army I have hidden away!~ I already scouted out the forces they've strategically placed to surprise attack us!" The Earl said, with a high pitched laugh. "They'll be slaughtered in no time!~" His eyes left Tyki and locked with Lenalee's and then to mine. "Who is it we have here with us today?" he asked, moving faster than that fat man should've been able to.

"My slaves, not worth looking at," Tyki said casually. The Earl locked eyes with me, and looked at my pale skinned arm littered with scars from Adam. "Hm, those scars seem familiar." My eyes widened, he stepped closer, his breathe hot on my face. I began to shake. "Oh." The mask fell off. "Your the little brat," he took a deep breathe. I was staring at General Adam. My jaw dropped. His hand wrapped around my throat. I couldn't breathe.

"ALLEN WALKER!" he screamed, "A SPY!" Tyki jumped out of his chair and so did the rest of the Noah, but all I could think about was Adam. He was working for the other side. Skin cracked his knuckles. "Should we kill or torture him for information, Skin?" I clawed at his hands, and Skin pretended to ponder an answer. Skin gave me a creepy smile.

"I would love to torture him, Earl." The Earl let go of me, and I dropped to the floor like a bag or rocks. Skin grabbed me by my hood and dragged me out of the room. I lashed out. The shadows came to my aid. They wrapped around his body and he let go of me, I scrambled to get up and Skin bellowed with rage. I ran down the hall. I could hear Skin running after me. I snuck a glance behind me, and he was nearly close enough to tackle me. I came to a dead end. A large window was in front of me, I barely thought about it before I jumped through and the glass shattered.

Skin followed me, and I wasn't fast enough, he jumped on me and I screamed. I tried to fight him off, but he was stronger than anyone I had ever encountered. I tried to summon my shadows, but nothing worked. I was screaming and kicking as he dragged me back inside. "There is more than two sides to this war Earl!" I screamed. The Earl smiled. Skin slammed my head into the ground and I passed out.


	13. Breaking

I was screaming when I woke up in my bed. Tears blurred my vision and I was thrashing around. Seconds later, someone was in my room, holding me down. "Allen." I was gasping for air. I couldn't get enough. "Allen, what's wrong." I tried to speak, but it came out as a strangled whine. "Breathe, in and out. Your having a panic attack." I pushed the person away. My breathing regulated, and Erian spoke.

"What happened?" I shook my head. There was a knock at the door, Erian got up to answer it.

"Rhys and Nym have arrived." said a servant. Erian nodded and I looked at him.

"I can tell you later," I said, and stomped out of my room. Erian followed me into the Throne room. I ignored Erian and sat in my throne with my legs crossed. I had been found out. The Noah were going to kill me. I had a few hours at most before the torture began. A man with brown eyes and white hair like mine. He had a huge sword strapped to his back and a cold expression. I gave him a fierce one in return. He didn't bow when he reached my throne. I didn't expect him to.

I gripped my thorne with an iron-tight grip. Torture, death, war. I would be dead soon. "Welcome, Rhys," I said.

"This is Allen Walker, the new King of Shadows." Erian said, "He's in a foul mood today, please excuse him," I shot Erian a glare and he backed down. Rhys reluctantly bowed. A few seconds later a woman that wore no shoes came inside and bowed. "King Allen, what a pleasure," Her short brown hair was curled and her face was small. "Ariaxio hitched a ride with me, so she's very early," A woman with blonde hair and blue eyes walked in, wearing a silky dress. I remembered her powers, to invade minds.

"Don't go into his mind, Ari! That's rude!" Nym exclaimed, slapping her arm. Ariaxio blinked and pouted.

"But it looks so interesting, I could feel his emotions before I opened the door!" I smiled slightly, but she didn't say anything else. "The rest of them will be here in a few hours, but until then I want to learn all about King Allen!" Nym said energetically. Ariaxio bowed slightly, and nodded toward her friend.

"So, in the human realm, what do you do for a living?" Nym asked. Erian gave me a concerned look. "I mean, obviously you killed the previous king, but is there anything else?"

"I serve in the army, and they're up against the biggest threat to their kingdom, and ours alike," The three of them nodded. "The Millennium Earl has conquered every kingdom he has fought, he wont stop if I don't stop him."

"Have you ever seen this man?" Nym asked, "Is he scary?"

I laughed darkly, and shadows surely swirled around me. "I saw him for the first time today, he is quite terrifying, could we move on?"

Rhys nodded in agreement, "We can discuss battle plans later," I smiled.

"General Kanda," said the scout, waving his hand in front of my face, I snapped at him.

"What?" I glared at him, at everyone. Camp was always tense and quiet now. "We lost contact with Allen Walker, the spy, sir,"

"What do you mean you lost contact?!" I shouted. All conversation stopped abruptly.

"W-we don't know where he is, sir," I jumped out of my chair, and grabbed the man by the his shirt.

"You better fucking find out!" I screamed, and walked away to my tent, now too empty without Allen. I stared at my bed at the spot where he used to sleep. I stared at that spot until some annoying red head popped his head in. "Urgent news!" I gave him a dirty look.

"What."

"N-noah are headed this way! We've been ordered to intercept them before the cut off our supply routes!" Before I could focus on his words, he was gone and everyone was rushing around getting ready to fight. Impressively, it only took them an hour to ready themselves, and the army was off, into battle. We pushed our horses to the max, but it was night before we encountered each other. A few exorcists impressively leaped off their horses and engaged with a few Noahs. I let myself forget everything, and focus on the fight. I activated Mugen, my Katana. My body went into autopilot as I jumped off my horse. I swung my sword and that's all. I didn't bother to look at their faces, and mentally apologize for killing them. I killed them without a thought.

The screams of agony didn't reach my ears. Their deaths meant nothing to me, I just kept killing and killing though the dark. The only light was the light of my activated innocence. With one swift movement I beheaded the akuma in front of me. I grabbed one of the passing Noah, "Where is Allen Walker?"

"Allen who?" The Noah said, trying to stab me. I had no idea why I had even bothered talking to the enemy.

"If you don't know anything, then die already," I muttered coldly. Our swords clashed, the Noah smiled.

"I won't die so easily," I almost snapped back at him, but I forced myself to think about the battle. The Noah swung at me and I dodged, I jabbed, and he blocked. I swung again and our swords met. I shoved him away from me, our swords clashed again. I wasn't thinking rationally. I pushed him with my sword, and he tripped and fell. And he kept falling. That's when I realized I was inches away from a cliff. Someone dragged me away, "Jeez, you're an idiot!" It was Leo. "How do you think Allen will feel when I tell him that you almost fell off a cliff!" I flipped him off and he rolled his eyes.

We both fought side to side. He dispatched an akuma with scary accuracy, and I nodded with approval. A Noah took its place, and immediately started to attack me. This one was faster and stronger than the one I had met previously. The Noah kept swinging and parrying with ease. I swung, and the Noah blocked, and we continued like this for a few minutes until I tripped. Leo, who had been fighting an akuma till now reacted just as the Noah did. The Noah raised his sword, aiming for my heart when Leo jumped on top of me and took the blow. The blade protruded from his chest. Leo looked at his chest with a slightly confused look, like he couldn't believe that there was a sword piercing his heart and killing him. Blood fell out of his mouth, and the Noah kicked him aside to finish me off.

I gripped my sword and got up. I dusted off my shoulder and smiled, "Why aren't you running yet?" I asked. The Noah paled, I swung at him, he barely blocked it. My blood was boiling. My hands shook with rage. The Noah's sword flew out of his hand, I dropped mine, and I snapped his neck with my own two hands. The battle was over, with many injured. Apollo sobbed over Leo's injured body and put pressure on the wound. Blood coated me head to toe. "K-k-kanda," Leo gasped out. "I'm fine,"

I was so done with getting bombarded with questions. All the Lords, Ladies and even Lesser Lords were here. Even peasants were here for the occasion. Spring had to be my favorite, his slightly tanned skin, golden hair and warm attitude was very welcoming. The lights dimmed until they shut off completely, and candles lit themselves like when Erian and I were dancing the other day. The room was packed with people, and I finally got off my ass and formally greeted people. I came across Xion who gave me a gentle smile, "It must be a lot, to be crowned as a King so young," I nodded.

"I never expected that my life would lead me to this," I responded, he left and Erian took his place. He frowned and touched my forehead.

"You look very pale," He handed me a drink of water, though I don't remember him having it. I blinked once, twice. Maybe I was waking up. Cold fear gripped my stomach, and my expression surely showed it. Erian's eyebrow furrowed and he tilted his head.

"Are you okay?" Something shattered on the floor, I was pretty sure it was my drink. Everything went quiet, and everyone stared at me. "Shit," said Erian loudly. The floor beneath my feet wobbled, or was it me? My crown fell off my head, and I fell to my knees, Erian shouted something, but I couldn't hear what it was. Everything was becoming muffled. I felt something go into my mind, the only logical explanation was Aria. Blood squirted out of my mouth and pain exploded in my back. Someone was shouting, or screaming. "Ariaxio, what's wrong with him?!"

"I'm looking-" she stopped mid-sentence, "Oh my god,"

"What? What is it?" Rhys asked, I looked up to see everyone was gone except the Lords, Ladies and Lesser Lords. My eyes lost their focus on the world around me. "Take off his shirt! Hurry the hell up!" Ariaxio exclaimed, someone ripped off my jacket and my shirt in a matter of seconds. Ariaxio slipped into my mind again just as my consciousness switched to the other world. "Are you awake now?" asked Skin, who held my face in his hand, beside him was a medical tray full of scalpels and needles, and other assortments of terrifying objects.

"Good," He got up and raised the whip over his head with my back facing towards him. The torture had begun.

I was suddenly back in the Throne room. Ariaxio left my mind, I was screaming. "Spring we need you now," Erian snapped. Aria started to explain everything extremely fast.

"He was spying for the Kingdom's army. He was disguised as a slave being sold to the Noah, so he could figure out their army's position , which is very vital information. He's been found out and… one of the Noah is currently trying to get information out of him." I wasn't listening. I was hearing two worlds at once. Skin was still talking to me, "Stay awake, little exorcist,"

"Allen can you hear me?" Erian asked, over Skin's screaming. I would've nodded, but another lash interrupted anything I would've said. My back arched, and I screamed. I couldn't keep my eyes open for much longer.

"Wakey, wakey, exorcist,"

"No, I don't want to wake up," I whimpered. Finally my eyes slid shut and I couldn't see anyone. It was dark and cold. I was shirtless and Skin was smiling down at me. I yanked at the chains and screamed. "Oh shh, shh," Skin demanded. "If you don't shut up-" he grabbed a sharp scalpel from the tray and brought it to my face, "You scar will be much worse." He smiled after I stopped screaming.

"Good boy," Skin complimented, "Now, what do you know about the the kingdoms army? Who are the generals?" I shook my head and Skin roared. He kicked me and sent me flying into a wall. I groaned, my entire body was burning. He grabbed a fistful of my hair and licked his lips.

"This is going to be so fun," He yanked me into a sitting position. "I'll ask again, who are the Generals?"

"I don't know, I wasn't stationed with one!" He threw me into the wall.

"You're a liar!" He screamed, "Tell me their names!" I didn't answer, and he slammed my face into the stone wall again and again. Blood trickled down my face. Tears streamed down my face. "I don't know," I said pathetically, "Please stop," He asked me again. I still didn't answer.

He raised his whip and lashed my back again. I was shaking. "One name, that's all I need."

"S-suman Dark,"


	14. Rescue Mission

My cell was warm and comfortable, which didn't make sense. I forced my eyes open and I realized why. I wasn't in a cell, I was in an infirmary of sorts. Erian slept in the chair next to my bed, a nostalgic feeling took over me and my mind wandered to Kanda and The War. I pushed myself into a sitting position. I had to warn Kanda about our plans. I threw my blanket off of me and attempted to stand. I clenched my teeth as the pain hit me full force. I swayed slightly before sitting back down. Erian shifted in his seat, and his eyes shot open. "What are you doing?" He asked, "Are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah sure, I'm totally fine," I said sarcastically, with effort. My throat hurt from screaming.

"There's blood on your face, you look terrible." He went to the sink and got a white towel. He soaked it with water and wiped my face. The towel came back pink. I frowned. "Do you know where you are?"

"Somewhere cold and dark," I responded, "I need to warn them," Erian raised an eyebrow.

"Warn who of what?" he asked.

"The Earl figured out their position, i-if I don't tell them they'll all die." I got up quickly and he pushed me back onto the bed.

"What do you think you're doing?" Erian snapped, "You're not going anywhere." I glared at him, and he glared back.

"I have to do something!" I shouted. His expression softened as tears fell from my eyes.

"You are doing something," He told me, "You're surviving, just focus on living," The sunlight was dimming and I gave him a terrified look. It hadn't even been three minutes. Aria swung the door open, and smiled at me.

"Good afternoon, your Highness," She inspected the bruises on my face and nodded. "It could be worse." She was right. It could be worse, and it was going to be worse. My eyes got heavy, and Aria watched me.

"This soon?" she said to herself. I lost my footing in this world, and I returned to my cell. There was the sound of someone opening a door. Skin Bolic gave me a sinister smile. My arms were outstretched on either side of me. The chains were connected to the walls, so I couldn't move. He crouched down so he could look at me eye level.

"Turns out your information was correct." He said, "Who are the people with magic powers capable of killing Noah? How can they do that?" I stared at him.

"What are you talking about?" I lied, but he knew it.

"YOU KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!" Skin screamed, He punched me in the jaw. He walked behind me, leaned down and whispered in my ear. "What is the magic," His boot rested on my elbow. "What does it do?"

"I don't kno-" I felt my arm snap. I screamed. Skin growled at me, and went over to the door. He unlocked it and two soldiers stood guarding the door. "GET ME AN AKUMA! NOW!" The two warriors tripped over each other to follow his orders. I closed my eyes. I wanted nothing more than to go to sleep and go somewhere else. My fingers were numb, and I was freezing. Skin stood in the doorway tapping his feet impatiently.

"H-here you go sir!" said a timid guard, shoving a grey skinned male through the door. His black tears were hard to see in the dark. The room got significantly colder as he and Skin glared at each other. "What do you want, Skin?" asked the Akuma with disinterest. "I was having dinner," Skin clicked his tongue.

"I don't care. My little friend over here," he pointed to me, and the akuma's eyes flashed with emotion, but it was gone as quickly as it came, so I couldn't decipher which. "Is having a little trouble giving me what I want. Maybe you can encourage him." The Akuma gave Skin another glare before taking off his coat and handing it to Skin.

"Leave. I'll tell you when we're finished."

I forced my eyes shut. I flickered in and out of conscious, hoping it would save me from what laid ahead.

"Suman, I owe you," I said, staring down at Leo, who was healthy, but unconscious, "If you hadn't shown up and used your innocence to heal him I don't think he would've survived." General Suman Dark smiled and deactivated his innocence. His arm was a pale blue. Suman Dark's innocence was the ability to manipulate wind using two types of weapons. With one type, his arm would transform into a cannon that shot out gusts of wind used to slice Akuma in half. The other type, his arm wouldn't transform, it would glow, and had the ability to heal.

Suman Dark had been traveling back to his camp after retrieving a letter from King Tiedoll informing his that he was needed at the castle. He was luckily stumbled across the battlefield where my army was and healed the most gravely injured. He and I left the tent and walked around aimlessly until Viper interrupted Suman in the middle of the sentence.

"Look, i'm sorry for interrupting your conversation, but a Noah is saying he has information about Allen," Viper actually smiled at me.

"Who's Allen?" Suman Dark asked, with a frown.

"I'll explain later," I said, "Take me to him, Viper," Viper nodded and Suman followed us. Viper took us to the north entrance to camp. A tall Noah with golden eyes and slicked back hair locked eyes with me. Standing beside him was a female, with green hair. A crowd of soldiers stood at the entrance, blocking them from entering.

"Who are you?" I snapped, daring to step out. "What do you know."

The man bowed, "I am here in peace," he said, "I know what happened to your spy, my name is Tyki Mykk," I growled, and he raised an eyebrow.

"Explain everything. Now." I demanded.

"Allen arrived at my camp as a slave, under the alias Red. I bought him, because I knew he was important somehow. I quickly learned he was a spy, and agreed that I would help him. I made the mistake of taking him to one of my meetings," He gave a regretful sigh, and ran his hand through his black hair. "The Earl revealed himself as General Adam, and had Allen captured,"

"So he's dead?" asked someone behind me, I glared at them. Tyki shook his head.

"He's currently being tortured by The Noah of Wrath, Skin Bolic. It's been three days, and he's only revealed one name, Suman Dark. I suggest, whomever you are, that you start running, or get ready for a hell of a fight." It was silent. Tyki continued, "He won't survive much longer, though. Skin is the best at his job, and Allen will be spilling answers in a matter of hours."

"What're they asking him now?" Suman asked.

"The one thing we don't know, how do you kill us? Noah are immortal, yet three of us have been killed during the War. It's a very important question I hope he never answers," Innocence. "I came here with other information as well, The Earl knows exactly where all your armies are, I suggest you fix that." he smiled and gestured to the woman at his side.

"This is Lenalee Lee, my slave, but seeing as I have no use for her, seeing as I'll be dead for betraying this information, I have chosen to free her." Lenalee's eyes widened, and her mouth dropped open.

"Y-you're freeing me?" she asked.

"Of course I am, I'm not inhumane. Now go find your brother you've been begging to search for, his name is Komui Lee, right?" Tyki muttered. "As always, I am on your side, humans." He turned, and disappeared. Suman Dark ran back into camp, Lenalee stood there, shocked. People began to go back into camp, returning to their normal routine like nothing had happened.

"I'm General Kanda Yuu, welcome to camp," She smiled.

"Thank you," she said, "Do you know my brother?" I nodded. I heard a very unmanly wail, as Komui himself ran toward his sister.

"Lenalee!~" he cried, her eyes widened before softening. In a matter of seconds they were both sobbing messes. Suman Dark's smile was so big I was sure it would split his face in half. I found myself frowning and walking away. Suman seemed to notice. Apollo was leaving the tent where Leo was, he saw me and started walking over, he looked grim.

"Why so upset? Are you worried about that soldier Allen Walker?"

"Yes," I said irritably.

"Well, you shouldn't, worry about him," Suman said, with a smile. Apollo was close enough to hear and nearly attacked him.

"Allen is Kanda's boyfriend!" Apollo snapped angrily, "And my best friend." I smiled at him, and Suman paled.

"I didn't mean-"

"It's okay," I said.

"Are we going to save him?" Apollo asked, looking hopeful.

"No-" I started to say, but two people interrupted me.

"But we have to!" Lenalee and Komui said in sync. Even Suman Dark nodded. A few soldiers around us even nodded.

"We can't, we don't know the layout, or where anything is," I reasoned. I wasn't going to send my men to die. Lenalee glared at me.

"I do, seven years of slavery. I know that place inside and out, I think that's another reason why Tyki freed me. He wants us to save Allen." she said. She adjusted her dress and gave me a serious look. "Speak to whoever we have to, to get it done," I couldn't argue with her, and I didn't want to. I gestured for them to follow me.

I took the group to the tent where Cross, Tiedoll's advisor, resided. I entered and he looked up. "What?"

"I'm going after him." I said, "I already have someone who knows the place inside and out, Suman Dark has also agreed to join me," Cross shook his head.

"I can't allow that," Cross muttered, looking down at his papers that laid on his desk. Lenalee rolled her eyes. "Sir, whoever you are,"

"Cross Marian,"

"I don't care, we can do this with or without your permission." she said sternly. Cross gave her surprised look, his eyes looked her up and down. He blushed slightly. Komui nearly growled.

"Fine, but your taking Bookman's apprentice, Lavi." Cross said. Lenalee smiled brightly. Lavi arrived shortly after Cross sent for him. He gave Lenalee a goofy smile. "Now get going before I change my mind,"

"We need to change all of our positions pronto, The Earl knows all of them, can you fix that for me?"

"Yes, I'll write to King Tiedoll and send letters to the armies," I nodded, and we all left his tent.

"I can't believe you all convinced Cross to do something!" Lavi commented. I lead my group of five to where the horses were. We all mounted, and Komui screeched about his inventions he needed to bring. He returned a few minutes later. Komui and Lenalee rode together while the rest of us rode our own horses. I already knew where the Noah's headquarters were, so we headed in that direction. The ride was quiet as we rode north, towards our destination. It went this way for hours or more, until the ground rumbled dangerously. A door opened in front of us. I forced my horse to a quick stop.

"What is that?" Lavi asked apprehensively. A tall muscular man stepped out with a couple lower level Noah. It was a portal.

"We're looking for Suman Dark?" said the man. "My name is Skin Bolic, Noah of Wrath," He was the man who was torturing Allen. I dismounted, and so did my group. Lavi activated his innocence, as did I and Suman. Apollo drew his sword, ready to attack the akuma. Lenalee and Komui stood back. "I'm Suman Dark," Suman announced, aiming his weapon.

"Come quietly and we won't kill your friends." Skin bargained.

"I'll fight to the death rather than come quietly."

"Your choice, I guess," Skin Bolic jumped in the air, and the Akuma ran towards us.


	15. Freeing Allen Walker

Skin landed right in front of Suman. Suman unleashed a big ball of flesh slicing wind, the ground shook. Lavi and Apollo were fighting the wave of Akuma, I joined Suman in the battle against Skin. Akuma were pouring out of the portal. I swung my sword at Skin, but as my blade connected, his skin turned gold. "Haha, puny humans. You've made me mad!" A gust of his power sent Suman flying. He landed roughly two yards away. Lenalee screamed in horror as her feet turned black and blue. Boots of innocence covered her feet. She sped toward Suman, and helped him up. Skin turned his attention to me. I side stepped his punch and swung my sword in a huge arch. He blocked it with his hand with ease. I struck again and again with the same effect. Komui threw one of his inventions in the portal and it exploded, knocking some of the Akuma out.

Lavi and Apollo were cutting them down. Lavi swung his huge hammer and squashed a good amount. Skin lunged for me, his hand wrapped around my throat. My sword clanged on the ground, and I scratched at his hands. I looked around desperately, Suman and Lenalee where nowhere to be seen. A few seconds later I knew why. Lenalee dropped from the sky, and kicked Skin with all her might, the his golden skin shattered and golden flakes floated midair. She dropped Suman near me, as Skin dropped me.

I scrambled for my sword. Lenalee, Suman, Lavi and Apollo stood at my side. Komui was hiding fearfully behind one of the horses. A purple butterfly floated by Skin's face. "Sir!" The butterfly said.

"What is it?" Skin asked angrily. "I'm in the middle of some-" Agonizing screams could be heard on the other end. Allen's screams. "I finished, he definitely won't hesitate to give you all the-" The screaming was getting steadily louder.

"I-is that Allen screaming?" Lenalee asked with horror. Skin ignored her.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" someone screamed, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY NEPHEW'S FACE?!"

"I'll be right there," Skin said. He snapped his fingers and disappeared. I stared at the spot where he left in horror.

My eyes snapped open, and I was walking down the hall towards the Throne room doors. My arm was wrapped, and I was wearing my crown, and my jacket. I stopped walking. What was I doing? I heard walking, and Erian appeared down the hall. "What the fuck are you doing?" he asked.

"I-I don't know, I just woke up, and I was walking." I told him. He gave me a curious look. "Whatever. Tell the Lords, Ladies and Lesser Lords I need to speak with them,"

The shadows whispered, "Throne," Erian nodded at me, and I pushed the door open and walked into the Throne room. I sat in the throne with a sigh. The shadows had wanted me to go here I guessed. A few seconds later the Lords, Ladies and Lesser Lords walked in. "You wanted to see us?" Aria asked. Rhys gave me a concerned look.

"Why aren't you resting?" He asked.

"I woke up and I was walking towards this room," I shrugged, "The Shadows wanted me to come here I guess."

"It would seem so," Nym said, "The first King, Mana would often sleepwalk with the shadows whispering in his ears."

"Could we get down to business?" Aria snapped, "Allen wants to rest," She was reading my mind.

"I need you all to train my army,"

"They are already trained," Rhys said.

"Not to fight Noah,"

"Even we don't know how to fight them." Aria added, "How do we learn?"

"You could easily go into my mind, Aria,"

"Oh I see," She smiled, "I think we can do that,"

"I-" Her face flickered, my eyes widened slightly. The Akuma stood in front of me, smiling. He rolled his shoulders, and cracked his neck. "I guess I should get started." He said, pinching his skin. It slid off with ease, I gagged. Instead of muscles or bone, there was a grey skeleton with the name Arystar Krory II written across it's forehead I was in both worlds at once again.

The skeleton had no hands, just blade-like edges where the hands should've been. "W-what are you?" Rhys furrowed his brow.

"An Akuma, idiot," The skeleton said, "We're created with human souls." He blade-like arm caressed the skin of my face.

Nym asked, "Is he awake on the other side too?" Aria nodded.

"Goddamnit," Erian whispered. The Akuma clicked his tongue.

"I'll do it on your scar," He cut my skin starting at the star shaped symbol on my face. I could hear blood dripping onto the marble floor of my castle. The Akuma cut open my scar, but he didn't stop above my chin, he stopped at my collar bone and sliced a jagged line right below my eye from my cheek bone to the bridge of nose.

I felt myself fall. The connection to the Shadow Kingdom snapped as I screamed and shadows erupted from me. The Akuma somehow called Skin using a purple butterfly. "Sir!"

"I finished, he definitely won't hesitate to give you all the-" My eye blazed with pain, everything I saw with that eye was grey, black and fuzzy. I could see the Akuma's soul even with my hand clamped over the wound. "I'LL KILL YOU!" someone screamed, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY NEPHEW'S FACE?!" I looked up, and an unfamiliar man stood over the Akuma, his eyes were golden, and his skin dark. A Noah.

The Akuma panicked, "I-I-I-" The man snapped his neck.

"Are you alright, Allen?" The man asked, "My name is Neah, you're safe now, we have to get you out of here, ok?" He snapped the chains, and retrieved white bandages from his pocket, and wrapped my wound up. "Mana come out of The Shadows," Another man, a Noah appeared. The Shadows kept erupting from me, the walls started to crumble. The pain in my eye increased, and so did the strength of the waves of shadows. "We have to get him out, now Mana! The ceilings about to collapse!"

I was lifted by Neah, and they ran from the collapsing building. We left the building and the building crashed down in a pile of stones, all the buildings around us were doing the same. Erian appeared in front of them in a swirl of shadows. "I'll carry him!" he shouted through the roar of collapsing buildings. Suddenly I was in Erian's arms, he cradled me to his chest. My broken arm was slowly mending itself, the pain in my back was also slowly receding. Erian's eyes were glowing. He was healing me?

"Where are the rest of them?" Asked Mana, "The Lords and Ladies?" Erian smilied.

"Right behind us, Mana," Neah said, "They just got here." The only thing that hadn't healed was my eye, I don't think it was going to. We almost left the city, and the shadows were calming down. Mana began to whisper to them. "Scared, scared," The shadows wailed.

"Your master is safe now," he whispered. The Shadows still pulsed, breaking down the buildings. My crown appeared, and Erian snatched it out of the air and placed it on my head. "King's saaafe?" The Shadows asked. Mana whispered yes. The clothes that Tyki had given me turned black, and all the holes mended themselves. My hair became spiked. "Transform? Transform?" The Shadows questioned.

A group of six people stood a few yards ahead. They all stopped running. The eleven buildings tipped over and fell behind us. "Who are they?" Erian snapped. Neah shrugged. The Lords and Ladies positioned themselves in front of me.

The six figures came closer, the shadows sent themselves forward, "Friends," They whispered, before disappearing completely. "It's safe," Mana said.

The six people came closer and I recognized Kanda immediately. "Kanda?" Erian put me down gently, I swayed slightly. "Who are they, your Highness?" Soworthe asked.

"That, is General Kanda Yuu," I pointed to him, Lenalee, Komui, Apollo, and those two I don't know."

They both smiled sheepishly. Apollo gave me an excited wave, Lenalee and Komui were arguing about something. Kanda pointed at the one with red hair.

"This is Lavi Bookman." he said, "The other is General Suman Dark," I frowned.

"I don't blame you for telling the Noah about me, by the way," he said with a smile. Kanda stared at me.

"Are you alright?" Kanda asked. "I can't believe I let you do that,"

"Neither can I," Erian said with a little to much sass. I gave him a stern look. "Sorry."

I walked toward Kanda, and crushed him in a hug, but the real reunion had to wait. His eyes lingered on my bandaged eye. We still had to leave and get back to camp as fast as possible, "How did Lenalee get to camp-"

"Tyki set me free! He told Kanda about the Earl knowing the exact positions of our armies too, they're all safe, Allen." I let out a relieved sigh.

"Who are these people with you, Allen?" asked Apollo. Soworthe growled. Cassian gave him a good-hearted scolding. "Now, now, Soworthe." Lia raised an eyebrow.

I smiled and turned, I pointed at Neah, "Neah, Mana, Soworthe, Rhys, Xion, Lee, Ariaxio, Cassian, Nym and Lia. Lords and Ladies of my court. Erian - the sassy one, is Xion's son,"

Kanda's eyes widened, and he began to put the dots together, the crown, the black clothing we all wore. "Your Highness," Lee said gently, "there are other strangers approaching," I looked in the direction he indicated, I could see Skin Bolic walking toward the damaged village. Without a second thought I conjured up horses with my Shadows. They nickered and one nudged me affectionately.

"We've got to go!" I said, nearly shouting. We all climbed onto their respective horse and we raced for camp. The horses we faster than anything I'd ever ridden, we were miles from the village in a matter of seconds. That didn't stop us from hearing the roar from Skin.

"ALLEN WALKER! I'LL KILL YOU!" he roared with rage. I smiled with malice. I would kill Skin soon, before he had the chance of killing me. Our horses galloped, it took us three hours to get close to camp. "So," I said awkwardly, "How did you get to the Noah Headquarters so fast? That would've taken you weeks!"

"Lenalee's innocence, she can run really fast," Lavi provided. Our horses slowed to a trot, and Kanda seemed to be restraining himself from asking a question. Or that's what his face looked like, his brow was furrowed, and he kept glancing at me.

"Say it," I said, the group quieted to listen. "What're you thinking about?"

"So, your a King, right?" Kanda asked, I nodded. "King of what Kingdom? Also, what happened to your eye? How long have you been a King? Why didn't you tell me?" Erian raised a hand.

"Let me explain," he said, "He is the King of the Shadows, the official title is; King of Shadows." Lee smiled at that. "Our kingdom can't be found on any maps here, we're on a different plain of existence,"

"To answer the rest of your questions," I muttered after Erian had finished his little speech, "My eye is fine-"

"A fucking Akuma shed it's vessel and used it's skeleton of Dark Matter to cut open his scar and curse him, we have yet to know what type of curse," Neah seemed to seethe with rage. Mana smiled nervously.

I ignored Neah's interruption, Kanda looked extremely horrified. We were about to enter camp. There was a crowd gathering at it's North entrance. "I've known I was King for a few weeks, I didn't tell you because, well, I was afraid you'd think I was a spy or something." He laughed.

"What," I said with slight embarrassment, "Are you laughing at?"


	16. Victory

"I would never suspect you to be a spy," Kanda said, "You're my boyfriend, Allen. Dear Lia and Ariaxio."

Aria smiled, and Rhys raised his hand to high-five her, "Our ancestors are still considered Gods and Goddesses," I gave them both perplexed look. Aria explained for me.

"Rhys, and Ariaxio, as well as all the other Lords and Ladies of that time came to this Kingdom and helped it prosper, they were worshipped, and we got their names. All Lords and Ladies get the names of the original Lords and Ladies when they are named Heir." I nearly face-palmed.

"Lia, goddess of Agriculture and Life." Lia nodded happily, "Rhys god of Warfare, Arcane, and Chaos. Ariaxio, Goddess of Forgiveness, Love and Prosperity. Soworthe, god of Wealth. Lee, god of Music and the Arts. Xion, Magic and Second Chances. Cassian, goddess of Weather. Nym goddess of Worship." I recited perfectly. They all nodded, looking slightly embarrassed. We dismounted our horses, and Apollo was in deep conversation with Xion, asking him questions about their ancestors who were recognized as gods in this world.

With a wave of Mana's hand, the horses vanished. "I've been meaning to ask you, Mana.." I started, "Are you..?"

"The First Shadow King?" Mana smiled, the Lords and Ladies listened intently, "Yes, I am. I was dragged out of the Shadow Kingdom realm and the Earl trapped me here. I had the Lords and Ladies cover for me-" there was suddenly a lot of shouts.

"Oh my god! Is that Allen Walker?" someone shouted excitedly. I took a deep, steadying breathe. The crowd parted for me and the group. Someone unexpected was standing nearby, tall and regal. And furious. King Tiedoll stood, glaring at Kanda, holding a smaller golden crown similar to the one resting on his head. The crowd quieted, and I spotted Viper in the crowd, and I nearly cringed. In milliseconds we were glaring daggers at each other. He pushed his way through the crowd, hissing with rage like a snake.

"Oh, you're alive." Viper said looking murderous, "I was hoping the Noah would finish you off, but-"

The Lords and Ladies behind me all lunged. I stopped them with wall of dark Shadow. Kanda drew his sword, and opened his mouth I shook my head. "Who're they, Scar face? You friends? I didn't know you had any!" he cackled, Tiedoll seemed to break out of his little daze. "Aw, you didn't leave unscathed did you?" The Shadows slowed and stayed deadly still. My crown swirled viciously, casting a living shadow.

"How nice to see you again, Viper." I snapped, the shadows slowly inched forward. My eye twitched as I attempted to keep my anger in check. King Tiedoll fought through the crowd. Viper lunged for my face, I staggered back, but he got a firm grip on the bloodied bandage, I hissed with pain.

"VIPER!" King Tiedoll and Kanda shouted at the same time. My shadow wall slithered away, and Lee was the first to reach Viper. Lee tackled him. I heard a horrified scream. It was Lenalee, her eyes were glued to my face. The bandages had fallen off. Through my injured eye I saw something floating above one of the soldiers head, the one Viper always talked to. My eye expanded, and I could see something writhing. My first reaction was to throw up. It was a skeleton with chunks of flesh clinging to its skeleton. It had the mark of an Akuma engraved on their forehead. Was this the soul the Akuma Krory was talking about.

"You look rather pale, King Allen," King Tiedoll said, holding up a terrified looking Viper. Cassian must've cast a wall of wind to stop Lee from killing him while I was absorbed in the soul of the Akuma. "Your eye," Tiedoll said.

"It's cursed," Neah said, with a friendly smile, "And I think we just figured out what kind of curse."

"Well?" Mana said hurriedly, "What is it, my dear boy?" He seemed very sad.

"That man," I said evenly. They all looked to the soldier I pointed at. "Is an Akuma,"

"How can you prove this?" The soldier/akuma said.

"I can see your soul," I said softly. "You must be the one who informed the Earl about our armies position." The Akuma roared with anger. It transformed into a more recognizable form. Black tears and grey skin. Tiedoll didn't hesitate to decapitate it. Vines curled around the Akuma and sliced it's head off.

Tiedoll gave Mana and Neah a questionable look. "Explain, you two." I gave him a confused look.

Neah looked away. Mana sighed, "Fine." Everyone had a look of confusion on their faces except for Tiedoll and Kanda. "We hurried to the Noah Headquarters as soon as we learned that Allen had volunteered as a Spy, even though you told us not to. We found him just as Krory, an Akuma finished-" Neah gestured to my face. I paled with embarrassment as Tiedoll looked at me. Kanda winked at me, and I gave him an Are-You-Serious look. "-doing that to my son. So, Neah and I took it upon ourselves to get him out."

Tidoll nodded, "And then?" I blushed and shifted.

Neah started laughing nervously, Mana touched my shoulder affectionately. "The curse implanted in the injury caused Allen great distress, and his power unleashed itself on the village of Noah warriors, the only life I could sense afterward were the slaves."

Tideoll's brow furrowed, "What did his powers do?"

"He destroyed the entire village. In mere minutes." Mana said, "The Noah Headquaters has been destroyed. All the warriors were dead, the only living we slaves. I checked using the Shadows," Tiedoll nodded.

"Thank you for explaining," he said. His attention switched to me, "Who are your friends?"

"We're his court, your Majesty." Soworthe said, "We're from the Shadow Kingdom-"

"-He's our King. The King of Shadows-" Said Lia.

"-We're his Lords and Ladies-" Xion chimed in.

"-please let us stay with him!" Nym asked. Tiedoll nodded.

"Welcome to The Kingdom of Light," Tiedoll said with the brightest smile I'd ever seen. "I do hope you enjoy it here," His eyes travelled around our group, Kanda edged away, hiding behind my shoulder. It was useless, since he was taller than me. "AND YOU!" Tiedoll shouted. I felt Kanda flinch.

"What old man!?" Kanda shouted back. I stared at him in shock. Tiedoll threw the golden crown at Kanda, tears shining in his eyes.

"You could've died!" Tiedoll scolded, "I should've never let you train to become a General at age six! You should've been focusing on learning how to run this country when I got old!" Kanda glared at Tiedoll, he pulled his hair from it's usual ponytail and placed the crown upon his head.

"Fine old man, but-" he snapped, pointing at me. "Something good came out of this,"

"What would that be?" King Tiedoll asked, tears streaming down his face.

"I met the King of Shadows, and I'm desperately in love with him." Kanda declared, "I want to marry him, I don't want an arranged marriage. If you want me to marry for power fine, he's got an army. He's got Lords and Ladies that are descendants from our gods. He's fucking powerful." I was blushing furiously. I could hear Lia and Cassian giggling. Rhys shushed them. King Tiedoll gave me a calculating look. Then he smiled.

"I never wanted you to have an arranged marriage, I wanted to let you be happy, of course you can marry him!" I was severely embarrassed. Everyone else was quiet. My face was hot, and I covered my face. "Oh, my god." I muttered mortified.

"Allen?" Kanda said, giving me a terrified look, "You want to marry me right?" I uncovered my face and tears blurred my vision.

"Of course!" I said really quickly, "Yes!"

"Oh, isn't that just adorable?!~" The Earl said sweetly. Half of his mask was gone, revealing crazed eyes and dark skin. Around him were not Akuma, or warriors. It was all of the Noah. All five. Not an army at all. With a flick of the Earls wrist, warriors made of Dark Matter rose from the earth, and an army basically appeared out of nowhere. "Tut, tut, tut. Allen Walker, Mana Walker, Neah Walker~" his face twisted into something foul. "Son, Father, and Uncle!~ Allen, your uncle Neah killed all of my other relatives. Your father Mana, left me for his little Kingdom! He even transported his kingdom to another plain all by himself so I couldn't kill both of them!~"

Screaming erupted. The Dark Matter warriors charged for everyone. I activated my innocence, and leaped. The Earl leaped for me, with the same sword as mine in his hands. Mine was white where his was black. "CHARGE!" I screamed in unison with the Earl. Shadows exploded from me, and both of us were suspended in the air. We clashed again, I heard singing. It must be Lia paralyzing her enemies. My Shadows erupted with a boom. I summoned something from the sky. It shimmered. It was slowly materializing. The Earl swung at me. I swung at the same time. There was a loud clang. Someone stood transfixed by our fight. It was Erian. I pushed him out of the way of an enemy with my Shadows.

The exorcists were cutting down the Dark Matter warriors. Regular soldiers were assisting them. I saw Lenalee zoom by and cut down a good row with one kick. Lavi slammed his hammer into the earth and a column of fire erupted. Kanda was wreaking havoc where his sword met Dark Matter flesh. Everywhere he went there was a dead warrior on the opposing side, vines followed him. Could he use magic too? As I looked around I realized something. This was the final battle. The Earl didn't waste time. He slammed his sword down toward my head, but I managed to block it with my sword. The force of his attack was so great that we both slammed into the earth. I was still standing, and he floated above with his sword still against mine. Everyone watched for a few seconds, but we flew back up, swinging at each other.

The casualties on the opposing sides were great, but ours was far greater. I watched as men from our side were cut down. Shadows erupted from me again. A good chunk collapsed and died. The Earl and I matched swing for swing. I kicked him in his plump stomach. He flew back from the forced of it and slammed into the ground. He kept moving, though. A long scar in the earth told me that he was sliding through the earth. Was my kick that powerful?

He got up and we began fighting again. Below us the fight was ending. The Dark Matter warriors were all dead. All that stood were the Noah. Tyki was standing with them. Reasoning with them I was sure. The Earl charged at me. I saw Skin impale Kanda with his own sword. I was screaming. My Shadows exploded out of me, above me, the shimmering thing in the sky began to form. It was the Shadow Kingdom. "I TOLD YOU THERE IS MORE THAN TWO SIDES TO THIS WAR!" I screamed through my tears. I wiped them away. Below, everyone was dying. I smiled evilly. The castle, or rather, the whole Shadow Kingdom continent blocked out the sun. My army flooded the battlefield. I thrusted my sword into the Earl's stomach. Blood flooded out of the wound. A dark figure appeared and snatched the Earl. It was the woman, Lulu. She laid the Earl down gently near the battle. I slowly dropped down. Everyone had frozen, at first I had no idea why. I tears dripped down my face as I found Kanda's body. A dragon made of my Shadows and rage had surrounded my body. The ground crumbled. Tyki, Rhode, and Jasdevi stepped aside. Skin laid dead near Kanda's injured body. All eight of my Lords and Ladies got down on one knee. So did my soldiers.

Lulu tried to protect the Earl, but I roared at her. Actually roared. Instead of my voice, it was a dragon. Without a thought I used my Shadows to fling her over to Rhys. He caught her, and slammed her to the ground. A cold calm crept over me. The Earl looked absolutely terrified. "Earl." I laughed. "Your execution will mark the end of The War." He was a blubbering mess.

I raised my sword, and sliced his head clean off. His mask melted away, and reformed itself a few feet away at Tyki's feet. It was a purple crown. I dropped my sword and my arm appeared. I ran towards Kanda. Erian was bent over him, healing him. As a sprinted toward them I heard him say, "He'll be fine, your Highness." I wrapped my arms around Kanda. His crown laid forgotten as I sobbed without dignity in his arms.

"Oh god, I thought you died," I managed to say through the tears and sobs. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that everyone was weeping. Tyki, Rhode, and Jasdevi clung to each other in a big heap with big fat tears streaming down their faces. It took people hours to come to terms with the end of The War. I kept crying, even as everyone went to go rest in the remnants of camp. Kanda carried me all the way to his tent. Mana and Tiedoll, I saw, before my view was blocked, were setting up a tent for Neah, Mana and the Lords and Ladies.

Kanda and I laid in bed, and I finally stopped crying. I just held him close to my chest. "D-don't ever leave me," I begged. Tears were streaming down his face, as they had been when he carried me over to his tent.

"I promise I'll stay by your side, even if that means living in the Shadow Kingdom," he said, I smiled.

"Mana could take over, he's immortal." I told him, "I want to stay here, please." I clung to him, tears threatening to fall again.

"Please stay with me Allen, tell me you'll stay" Kanda said, his hands were in my hair as tears dripped from his eyes. I wiped one away with my finger.

"I'll never leave you," I whispered.

"I'll never leave you," He whispered back.

"We'll meet in every life we have after this one," I said. He nodded eagerly.

"We'll love each other in every life we have after this one," He told me.

"Do you, Allen Walker, Crown Prince of the Shadow Kingdom, take Kanda Yuu, Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Light to be your husband. Through sickness and health? And every life you may have?" said the man. My eyes never left Kanda's

"Yes, I do." I said confidently.

"Do you, Kanda Yuu, Crown Prince of the Kingdom of Light, take Allen Walker, Crown Prince of the Shadow Kingdom to be your husband. Through sickness and health? And every life you may have?"

"I do," Kanda told the priest with the widest smile.

"You may kiss the - the other groom," The priest said, with a kind smile. Kanda's soft lips found mine. I wore a white cloak, and white dress shirt with dress pants, to represent Kanda's Kingdom. Kanda wore all black to represent mine. Our rings were golden. My Shadows, and his Plants intertwined. After the war, he revealed that he could use magic, but his hair tie suppressed it. He wore his hair down alot now. His Plants, created vines and plants that showered flowers around me. My Shadows created a beautiful dark unicorn, that nudged him affectionately. The Shadow Kingdom was visible from here, floating in the Sky. Tyki and his court that consisted of Rhode, Jasdevi, and a very sorry Lulu sat nearby. Mana and Neah sat next to each other, Tiedoll sat on Mana's other side. All three of them were weeping. My father's court, and technically my court sat behind them. Tiedoll's court sat on the other side, mingling excitedly with Noah citizens and Shadow citizens alike. Rhys was blowing his nose noises. Lee patted him affectionately on the shoulder. Nym, Cassian, Lia and Aria were gossiping with each other, pointing at a few good-looking Noah citizens. Lee, Rhys, Xion and Soworthe were glaring at any male who dared stare at their women. I smiled at the chaotic looking audience. Kanda and I looked at each other and we chuckled.

Kanda lifted me into his arms and carried me bridal style down the aisle. There was a shout of cheers and clapping. "You know… the priest could've said 'You may kiss the bride,'" he commented.

"I would've killed him." I told him.

"Yeah, I tried to bribe him, but he's a little scared of you," He carried me all the way up to our room, and locked the door. "They never found the body, Kanda, what if-"

"If he's alive, we'll kill him." he told me, "Let's stop talking about the Earl, let's do something else." He laid me gently on the bed and he crawled onto the bed, his body above mine.

"Okay,"


End file.
